


Comedy of Errors

by panda_shi, sub_textual



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Teachers, Awkward Crush, Blow Jobs, Comedy, Community: kakairu, Crack, Drunkenness, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Smut, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Parody, Romance, Rough Sex
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-25
Updated: 2016-08-08
Packaged: 2018-04-17 06:42:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 30,913
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4656612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/panda_shi/pseuds/panda_shi, https://archiveofourown.org/users/sub_textual/pseuds/sub_textual
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kakashi and Iruka find themselves in a shoujo-ai parody as two teachers at Konoha High, where everyone knows about Kakashi's crush on Iruka, except for Iruka.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This fanfic is meant to parody shoujo-ai mangas. (Yes, shoujo-ai, which tend to be more ridiculous than shounen-ai.) No Kakashis, Irukas, or Tenzous were hurt in the making of this terrible, ridiculous fanfiction.

The morning starts off like any other.

Kakashi strolls into the lobby of the school and deposits his lunch in the refrigerator in the teacher’s room. He sits down at a corner table with a gigantic oversized binder positioned on the table vertically to cover half his face as he drinks his coffee and go over his lesson plans for the day and read any mail or bulletins that might be in his mailbox. Today, there is a brightly colored yellow piece of paper printed with “ONSEN TRIP 2015” on the top, some information about the trip (ah, how nice, they will be going to Kirigakure, which is known for its natural onsens) and a list of chaperone partners.

He takes a sip of his coffee and is about to read over the list just as Gai sits down in front of him.

“GOOD MORNING, MY RIVAL! And how are we this _glorious morning_?” Gai bellows, his voice booming across the entire room. (Gai is very loud.) Kakashi simply looks up at him and hums a noncommittal sound in response, which garners a gasp from Gai, who splays a hand over his heart. (Gai is also very dramatic.) “Such a hip response!”

“What do you want Gai?” Kakashi asks patiently, setting down the notice for the trip for now, and takes another sip of his coffee.

Gai just _grins._ Then wiggles his eyebrows in the way that Gai does when he has a secret to tell. He leans over the table, elbows placed on its surface and whispers, “Did you see who you’re paired up with for the onsen trip, Kakashi?”

Kakashi just gives Gai a flat look. “Let me guess. You?”

“Not this time, my rival! Unfortunately you will not have that pleasure,” Gai gives Kakashi’s arm a sympathetic squeeze. Kakashi just takes another swallow of his coffee. “However! Do not fear! You, Kakashi, are paired with none other but.... Umino Iruka-sensei.”

Kakashi nearly chokes on his coffee as he spits it out.

Right into Gai’s face.

Just as said Iruka-sensei happens to walk into the staff room.

And the first thing Iruka does is actually focus on that poor choking and hacking person, shifting his satchel that is already overflowing with notebooks and papers, and his lunch.

“Are you okay?” Ah, it’s Gai-sensei and the person behind him that Iruka can’t quite see... oh. It’s Kakashi. He’d recognize those shoes anywhere. Not that he knows what Kakashi’s shoes are like but well, the point is, he’s making his way towards the pair, picking up a cup of water from the water dispenser and offering it. Doesn’t even think about it.

“Good morning, Gai-sensei.” Iruka says with a smile.

Gai, however, is just blinking rather unhappily at Kakashi, who had pulled up his medical mask hastily the moment Iruka began to make his way over. Gai’s face is dripping with coffee. He turns to give Iruka his best Nice Guy smile anyway.

“Good morning, Iruka-sensei!” Gai greets his colleague merrily, despite the coffee dripping down his face. He certainly would not want to make his rival’s Youthful Love Interest think he is most unhappy with Kakashi (which he is), as that would certainly not help Kakashi’s Blossoming Springtime of Passion!

Kakashi, however, just kind of shrinks behind his binder and pretends to become very engrossed with what he is doing. Which happens to be rearranging the pages and flipping through them, since Iruka is standing right there and looking at him. And oh, he smells quite nice too...

Something similar like this happens, Kakashi realizes, in Chapter 4 of _Icha Icha Paradise: Volume 1_.

Iruka wonders if Gai has any idea how ridiculous he looks like with a faceful of coffee. He’s pushing the cup towards Kakashi’s side of the table and offering Gai a sympathetic smile. “What a way to start a day, hmm, Gai-sensei?”

And then he looks at Kakashi who is... ignoring him again. Really, it’s been three months and Iruka has tried to be friendly. He’s nice to everyone and is actually quite well liked even by vice-terror-master Ibiki. But Kakashi had always been... like this.  Iruka thinks maybe the guy doesn’t like him anyway because Kakashi seems okay with the other teachers (like Gai, or Tenzou or Asuma and Genma and Kurenai), but with him, the guy pretty much always picks on him or pretends he’s a wallflower.

Like right now.

Iruka sighs. Well, he’s already here and he might as well finish.

“You’re okay, Kakashi-sensei?” Iruka asks. Patient. So, so patient. And also quite concerned

Gai guffaws and reaches across the table to slap Kakashi’s shoulder, knocking over the binder a bit and making Kakashi have to scramble for it so it doesn’t tip over into the cup of water that Iruka poured and brought over just for him!  

“Not to worry, Iruka-sensei! Kakashi here is quite strong! He might not look it, but he’s a truly powerful force to be reckoned with!” Gai chortles.

Kakashi just turns an increasingly bright shade of red above his mask.

“That’s enough, Gai,”  Kakashi says to Gai, then turns his attention to Iruka (oh, he is so cute, like Junko must be!) and bows his head in a bit of a thank you. “Thank you, Iruka-sensei.”

Iruka smiles at the both of them, but it’s probably just a touch brighter towards Kakashi because well, that’s nice. Today, Kakashi has decided to not warrant him with the ass-treatment. Iruka’s cheeks color a bit and his dimples hollow.

“Well good then... and you’re welcome. I should get going, Gai-sensei, I wish you a pleasant day.” Iruka moves around the little staff room, just to place his lunch in the fridge and to pick up his notes and whatever else that is sitting there and needs his attention. And he sees the big yellow memo. So he is chaperoning after all... and a quick glance at it and he’s... really? Really? Of all people! Really?!

Iruka stops by the door as he is sort of wondering why me as he reads his memo.

“Ah, it seems we are paired together in chaperone-duty. If there’s anything you wish to discuss or schedule or how our arrangements should be done,” Iruka says as he turns to look at Kakashi, “please don’t hesitate, Kakashi-sensei~”

Kakashi, however, has disappeared behind the binder again and just waves a dismissive hand towards Iruka that’s supposed to be a little wave of acknowledgment but really just comes off as a “yeah, yeah, please go away.”

… and hums in response.

Iruka scowls, rolls his eyes and just leaves the room for his classroom. On his way out he passes by Tenzou and Genma, and greets them a very cheerful good morning before he continues on his way. Of course, Tenzou being Tenzou and Genma being Genma, head straight for the staff room per usual. And the moment they enter, Genma starts his teasing while Tenzou heads straight for the coffee machine.

“Guess who we just saw pouting and sad-facing in the hallway.” Genma says, waving a hand at Tenzou to get him a cup too as he flops down, adjacent to Kakashi. Then he notices Gai. “What happened to you?”

Kakashi just groans and lowers the binder, then folds his arms on the table and kind of careens face-first into his arms, then peeks over the edge to stare morosely at the cup of water that Iruka brought him.

“Oh, Kakashi just had a bit of an incident,” Gai explains, and then reaches past the binder and picks up Kakashi’s coffee cup to get at the napkin under it, wiping his face. “You see, Iruka is his partner for the onsen trip this year.”

“Isn’t that a dream, Senpai?” Tenzou passes the coffee cup to Genma and moves to lean against the window pane, sipping his own.

Genma however simply shrugs. Incidents like these are very common apparently. “Think about it. It’s an onsen and Iruka-sensei _loves_ onsens. Make it work.”

Because three months of Kakashi pining for the new teacher and people getting facefuls of coffees? Not good. Half of them want the guy to just bang the newbie and be done with it. Hell, there’s a running bet on how long before Kakashi gets the guy in the sack. Tenzou said not more than four months. Genma already lost with his one month and two days.

Kakashi, however, just proceeds to bury his face completely in his arms. Absolutely mortified. Only to have Gai grab him by the shoulders and push him back, shaking him.

“KAKASHI! Use this glorious opportunity to demonstrate your _Youthful Passion_! There may not be another chance to capture your heart’s dream! You must _prevail_ and be strong! For the sake of True Love!” Gai booms, all the while shaking Kakashi back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, until Kakashi finally has had enough and lifts a hand to smash Gai’s face back, getting up abruptly. Then picks up his binder, the cup of water that Iruka delivered him, and begins to walk away from the table without much aplomb. He proceeds to snatch Tenzou’s coffee away from him just as he’s about to take a sip and begins to walk out of the staff room.

Tenzou makes a gesture with his hand that pretty much says, look, just look at him go and do that and then just throws his hand up in the air and helps himself to a new cup of coffee. This isn’t any different from usual.

“That’s not going to sit well with Iruka-sensei, Senpai!” He calls out behind his back.

While Genma just snickers and shakes his head. “Listen to your kouhai. In fact, listen to us. Do you need a 101-guidebook?”

Kakashi just ignores them and walks out of the room. All the while freaking out very quietly in his head because chaperone partners always share a room on trips.

Which means...

**He is going to share a room with Umino Iruka.**

For a moment, Kakashi promptly becomes a paper cut out that wobbles about before he manages to right himself just as he is about to walk straight into a wall.

He walks into his classroom and closes the door, then stares at his desk, before he heads over to place his belongings down on it. Then lifts up the cup of water Iruka gave him and clutches it to his chest with both hands for a moment, imagining just how the trip is going to go. How he will impress Iruka with his … well, Kakashi’s not sure yet, but there must be some kind of impressing involved. Either way, it’s all very dramatic, because this is supposed to be a shoujo fanfiction. (Though, because it is not _Gintama,_ there will be no breaking of the fourth wall.)

“Uhhh.... Whatcha doin’ Kakashi-sensei?” Naruto’s voice suddenly explodes out of nowhere, and Kakashi nearly drops the cup of water but manages to save it just before it spills and stares at Naruto. Then realizes oh, right. He is supposed to teach a class how to write a proper five paragraph essay. Which is why Naruto is there, though he’s surprisingly early.

Kakashi clears his throat and carefully puts the glass of water on his desk. Then, he sits down at his desk and proceeds to bury his face behind a binder for the second time in the day, as the rest of the class begins to filter into the room.

 

*

Later in the afternoon, Iruka finds himself walking down the hallway and just rounding the corner, towards the xerox room - in which the school really needs to invest more in because surely, it had once been a broom closet - humming under his breath and looking through some essays from his students. He isn’t really looking at who is in front of him.

And at that very moment, Kakashi turns around with a stack of paper in his hands and smashes front-first right into him. His eyes widen and he drops his papers, which go fluttering all over the place,  sending Iruka’s papers flying as well in a big snowfall of... paper. Iruka makes a small gasp and whimpery groan noise at the impact and bounces back. Eyes wide.

“Kakashi-sensei!” Iruka is so surprised and looks mortified. This is not shaping up to be good at all.

“I’m so sorry!” He exclaims, and bends to pick up the papers.

 _Oh god, did he have to make those sounds?_ Kakashi immediately feels a stab of heat go through him and... Okay, this is not good. Not good at all. He crouches down and begins gathering the papers as quickly as he can.

“It’s fine,” he manages to get out.

Iruka simply makes a guilty sound as he gathers all the papers and tries to sort out which ones are his and which are Kakashi’s. “No, no, please,” he says, looking up while he hands Kakashi what looks like to be his stuff from whatever pile he had manages to gather. “I wasn’t expecting anyone to be here at this time... are you all right?”

“Fine.” Kakashi responds flatly as he gathers up the papers, looking through them to make sure he doesn’t accidentally take any of Iruka’s. He’s about as fine as a teenage boy who was caught jerking off in the bathroom. And is actually kind of glad he has to go through these papers because standing right now would be...

a problem.  

“It _is_ before fourth period, Iruka-sensei,” he adds on. Implicit meaning: Why wouldn’t you expect anyone here at this time?

“Of all the people to bump in to, it had to be you, hmm?” Iruka mutters and here, take your papers, Kakashi. And he reaches out to take that pile Kakashi gathered, accidentally brushing his hand against Kakashi’s and start to go through for his own.

Kakashi just sort of hums in response to that and straightens out the papers a bit, suddenly unsure of what to say. Not that he really ever knows what to say around Iruka. He surreptitiously looks up at Iruka through his lashes while straightening out his papers, and wonders just how he is going to make it through a weekend at the onsen sharing a room with him.

“Here,” Iruka hands Kakashi his pile and then stands up and offers Kakashi his hand.

Kakashi stares at Iruka’s hand and then considers the fact that he’ll end up probably seeing... something he shouldn’t if Kakashi stands improperly and decides to wave it off, getting up and carefully … holding the papers so it covers his crotch.

“You might want to watch where you’re going, Iruka-sensei. If I had been Tsunade-sama…”

“I have no interest in knowing if they are natural or implants. You’re at fault too!” Iruka huffs and then smiles quite brightly. “Have a good day, Kakashi-sensei. Off you go now.”  He moves to side step around the man who obviously seriously does not like him for whatever reason and brushes past him to step in to the xerox room to get his work done. “Try not to bump into any other poor souls on the way.”

Kakashi doesn’t verbally respond, however. He’s already heading straight for the faculty bathrooms to get himself in order.

Meanwhile, from the hallway, a certain someone had witnessed the entire the incident. He, too, needs the xerox room but is going to wait there, in the far end of the hall until Iruka is done because it is a tight space. And besides, he prefers to … observe. However, perhaps it is time he gives Kakashi some advice.

So he follows Kakashi to the bathroom (since Iruka had an interesting stack of papers to work with anyway). Shibi is always quiet on his feet. So he sort of creeps up behind Kakashi and says, “Hello, Kakashi.”

Kakashi nearly smashes right into the sink, surprised by the sudden voice out of nowhere and whirls around, then realizes it’s just Aburame Shibi, the religious studies teacher who has a hobby in entomology and has a live collection of beetles in his classroom, housed in a large glass fish tank. He also seems to have a nasty habit of creeping up on people when they least expect.

“Aburame-san,” he sighs, kind of exasperated. “You shouldn’t sneak up on people like that.”

Shibi sort of looks side to side with his eyes and then nods. “Apologies.” He takes a step back.  “Three months have passed,” he says, as if he expects Kakashi to understand the purpose of his presence here.

Kakashi sighs, because obviously he knows exactly what Shibi is talking about. What else could it be?  “Don’t tell me you’ve joined the betting pool as well.”

“Such ventures don’t interest me,” the Aburame says.  “Your puerile ways will not pave your success in consummating with him. You must change.”

Kakashi just stares very flatly at the other teacher. Then he starts to go a little red above the edge of his mask.  “You’re always very helpful, Aburame-san,” he deadpans.

“That is your intention, isn’t it? Cease to bring him grief. Or he will discontinue trying to see you,” Shibi says, sounding very wise.

Kakashi almost sputters with disbelief, because the older man must be out of his mind. “He doesn’t try to “see” me.”

Shibi actually rolls his eyes. “You are not listening. You are supposed to possess highly praised skills in debonair and gallant behavior. I had faith in you. You are disappointing.”

Kakashi sighs and turns to the sink, turns the faucets on and then proceeds to wash his hands. For a moment, he considers washing his face, but the other teacher is watching and he’d rather not deal with any more strange comments from this man.

“Why do you care so much, anyway?” he asks after a moment, turning the faucets off, wet fingers curling over the edges of the sink.

“You are my friend,” Shibi simply says, and then turns to head out the door. “This is what I believe children of today would refer to as being in love.”

“I’m not in love,” Kakashi immediately counters, but he’s not sure if he even believes himself.

 

*

Later in the day, Kakashi finds himself back in the staff room, brooding into a cup of coffee while leaning against Tenzou’s favorite window, and that is how Tenzou finds him, as he stumbles into the staff room with a stack of folders filled with laboratory tests his previous class just did in fourth period.

“Senpai…” Tenzou says in greeting, eyeing Kakashi, who just kind of grunts in response and takes a sip of his coffee, staring down into it.

“Am I disappointing, Tenzou?” Kakashi asks after a moment.

Tenzou pauses. And then chuckles. “Is that a trick question, Senpai?”

“I had the strangest conversation with Aburame-san. He told me I was disappointing. Something about lack of debonair and gallant behavior, I believe.” Kakashi slides away from the window, moving to the sink to pour out his cold coffee which really is quite shitty coffee. He doesn’t even know who he drinks it.

“Ah…” Tenzou inhales through his nose as he sinks on to his chair. “I don’t think you’re disappointing, Senpai. I do think however, in comparison to how you usually are, your behavior towards Iruka-sensei is... completely different. A little on the…” he pauses, as he tries to figure out how to say this nicely, but there really is just no nice way to say it, “disappointing side, yes. You’ve made no progress with him whatsoever when you could have.”

Kakashi acts almost like a completely different person when he’s around Iruka. He’s uncharacteristically shy and awkward, and almost always seems to lose his composure. It’s completely unlike him, considering that Kakashi has quite the reputation for being the smooth charmer who always seems to get the one he wants.

That is, until Iruka came along.

Somehow, he’s been reduced to a blushing schoolboy, and it’s all very strange.

Kakashi just sighs and puts the mug in the sink, shoulders slumping. Proverbial storm cloud forming over his bowed head and downpour coming right down on him. “I can’t help it,” he says morosely.

After all, Iruka is, as some have put it rather aptly, Kakashi’s Junko.

Tenzou simply.... stares. Because joking aside and bets aside… “You really, really like him that much, don’t you, Senpai?”

Somehow, the storm cloud over Kakashi’s head has split into two. And there is possibly a rather sizable puddle forming on the floor.

“He’s... different,” the literature teacher mumbles miserably.

“You really want to pursue him?” Tenzou raises his eyebrow and reaching for his mug and helping himself to some tea. The question is serious.

“I wouldn’t call it... pursue,” Kakashi says.  Pursue seems like such an ugly word, after all. Like something you do to prey, and Iruka is anything but prey. Kakashi doesn’t want to pursue Iruka. He just wants to be with him.  

Stirring his cup of tea, Tenzou hums. “Let me rephrase that. Do you honestly see yourself being with Iruka? Maybe share an apartment, splitting the bills, sharing the house chores and the whole, waking up with him every morning? Going to sleep with him every night. Grow old together. That kind of thing, Senpai…”

Kakashi raises an eyebrow. “That’s jumping a bit far, isn’t it?” And then his face falls. “I don’t even think I can get a date. He hates me.”

“Quitting before trying already?” Tenzou’s lips quirks to a smirk. “We’ve known each other for a long time, Senpai. And trust me when I say, I’ve never seen you quite like this before. Now, you sound disappointing.”

Kakashi smacks Tenzou upside the head for that, which makes him wince.

“What have you got to lose, anyway? At least try. Do you even know anything about him? He might not even be your type once you get to know him, you know?” Tenzou carefully moves out of Kakashi’s arm reach so that he doesn’t get smacked again.

“His favorite food is miso ramen. He drinks tea with cinnamon and orange. Sometimes he peels the oranges and adds them into the tea, or just eats them with it. He’d rather be teaching elementary or middle school because he likes children more than teenagers. He’ll always smile and ask how you are, even if he’s in a terrible mood and has bags under his eyes from not sleeping. He cares easily about people and will try to take care of them, even if there is no real reason to care for them…” Kakashi looks almost wistful.

“Senpai, in some states, stalking is punishable by law.” Tenzou grins, earning him a rather killer glare. He sighs, and just holds up both his hands in a peace gesture before continuing.  “Why?”

Kakashi looks confused at the question, and Tenzou clarifies, “ _Why_ does he care for people when there’s no reason to? Why does he put up a positive act when he’s so tired? Why orange and cinnamon? Why prefer kids?”

A furrow forms between Kakashi’s brows as he considers the questions carefully. “Well, I assume he prefers children because he has an innate desire to nurture and care for others. Teaching children would be a way of allowing him to nurture and coddle to his heart’s content.” Clearly, Kakashi has already analyzed Iruka the way he analyzes his porn. Or the books that he has to teach his classes. “He cares because he is a good person, with a kind heart. If he wasn’t genuinely kind and had a desire for such things, then he would have no reason to do what he does. He certainly doesn’t act out of some strange, misguided sense of obligation -- if that were the case, it’d be obvious.”

The way Kakashi describes him is almost the way he might’ve described Junko.

Tenzou can’t possibly look any less impressed.

“You’re screwed,” he says flatly.  “You assume that. But you don’t know that. Iruka isn’t a fictional character from a book, Senpai. You’ll be spending a weekend with him, in the same room. You do know he might rip you a new one if he finds out about him being your Junko right?”

“He isn’t my anything,” Kakashi says with a frown.

Tenzou just gives him a look that says, yeah right.  “Then what is he?”

“He’s--”  Kakashi begins and at that very moment, Iruka walks into the staff room and Kakashi clams up abruptly, trying not to stare. The younger teacher is holding a large plate of several different forms of iced cupcakes that smell of vanilla and chocolate. Fourth period involved baking with the home economics class, it seems.

“Tenzou-sensei~ Kakashi-sensei~ Would you like some?” Iruka’s smile is bright and happy, dimples forming in his cheeks.

“Sure, Iruka-sensei,” Tenzou replies, and plucks one of the white ones from the plate and takes a bite. His gaze slides towards Kakashi, and decides he is going to just watch this. Iruka is already offering the plate up to Kakashi with that beaming I’m-so-proud-of-the-kids smile on his face.

But instead of acting cool and suave like he normally might, Kakashi just fidgets for a moment. Stares at the plate, unsure of what to do. If he doesn’t take one, then he’ll come off as very rude. If he takes one but doesn’t eat it, then he’ll come off as... not simply rude, but wasteful of food. Which is worse, in his opinion. Because that cupcake could go to someone else. He clears his throat a bit.

“Ah... thank you, but... I don’t exactly eat... sweet things…” he manages to say, very awkwardly, eyes curving into embarassed arcs above the edge of his mask, and it’s a good thing that they’re all scrunched up, because he misses the way Iruka’s face falls.

“Oh…” Iruka says, but then he smiles anyway. “Well, that’s all right! More for me then~” He says brightly, and sits himself down at the table before helping himself to a cupcake.

Meanwhile, Tenzou just stands there, expression flat. Well, at least Kakashi is honest! He stares at his senpai intensely and waits for him to say something. And when Kakashi just fidgets and does nothing for a few long seconds, Tenzou makes a face. Waits for Iruka to get distracted by his cupcake, and then makes eye gestures and furiously jerks his head in the direction of Iruka for Kakashi to say something. He even mouths it silently, _SAY SOMETHING!_ And then he just goes right back to sipping his tea when Iruka happens to look up, like he hadn’t been making rather dramatic faces just now.

If Kakashi could, he would smack Tenzou upside the head and maybe, for good measure, dump his tea over it as well. Kakashi doesn’t need encouragement to talk to Iruka. He can manage on his own. He can find a way to open his mouth and-- Well, he’s staring now, isn’t he. There are words there but they aren’t quite coming out properly. Wait. He probably shouldn’t stare, or Iruka will notice.

Kakashi looks away and down at the cupcakes.  “Did you make these, Iruka-sensei?”

Iruka flushes a little bit, and sheepishly rubs at his scar with a finger, pausing in his eating. “A-Ahh... no, no, not this time. I made my batch last week. Today was purely the class’s effort! They’re quite good.”

Meanwhile, Tenzou gives Kakashi an encouraging look behind Iruka’s back. Mouths a: _great! keep at it!_ Of course, he simply goes right back to drinking his tea when Iruka glances his way.

But the distracting vision of his kouhai trying to give him some sort of encouragement is so annoying that all Kakashi manages to say is, “Ah.”

Tenzou silently facepalms as Iruka goes back to eating his cupcakes with a hum. For a minute or so, there’s nothing but the sound of chewing and Kakashi’s heartbeat which is growing increasingly louder, and Kakashi is just grateful Iruka can’t hear it.

Kakashi scours his mind for things to say, but all that comes up are lines from Icha Icha. Which certainly aren’t appropriate for the staff room. He finishes his coffee silently, and then gets up and goes over to rinse out the cup and then he has a realization. He could make some tea. It’s not like he doesn’t know what Iruka likes to drink, after all. He busies himself with making Iruka a cup of his favorite tea and then casually sets it before him.

Iruka looks up from where one side of his cheek is puffed up from a cupcake, pausing mid chew. He looks at Kakashi, then the cup, then back to Kakashi, then inhales the steam from the tea. He looks mildly surprised. Iruka can smell the cinnamon and the orange and strong blend of black tea.

“Sensei…” Iruka smiles. “Thank you. I didn’t know you drank the same tea blend!”

“I don’t.” Kakashi says a bit lightly, and then maybe flushes a little under the edge of his mask.

Iruka’s head tilts and one eyebrow raises and then, he just sort of murmurs a soft “oh” and Kakashi suddenly wishes he could just melt into the ground and disappear right about now.  

Smooth, Kakashi. Real smooth.

“Ah...I believe you’re the only teacher who drinks that tea. The room always smells like oranges and cinnamon every time you’re here…” Kakashi attempts to explain, rather futilely, eyes curved into perfect crescents as he scratches his cheek through the mask with a finger.

“I - well …” Iruka clears his throat and busies himself with taking a sip of the tea which is just right~ Perfection in a cup! Iruka sighs and hums and then clears his throat again, totally not realizing how Tenzou is sort of already thumping his head against the rim of his tea cup at his senpai’s utter... lack of... what does one even call it now?

“I hope that’s not a bad thing or an unpleasant odor... “ Iruka says, looking a little concerned.

Kakashi shakes his head a bit, still smiling in that … awkward crescented way of his. “It’s rather nice... “

Iruka smiles quite happily at Kakashi now. And then offers him his cup. “Would you like to try some?”

In the background, Tenzou is pointedly staring with his doomface. This is where Kakashi is supposed to accept the cup, because it’s a perfect opportunity. He’s supposed to let this happen, instead of sabotaging himself repeatedly, like he’s been doing for the past three months. And to his credit, Kakashi would have probably tried it if not for the fact that there are ten other teachers in the room staring at Iruka and him. So he gently nudges the cup back.

“It’s yours,” he says, and then he realizes how ridiculous that might sound. “Besides... I... ah... have a... bit of … a... cold.” It’s a total lie, but he sure as hell isn’t interested in flashing everyone his face.

In the background, Tenzou throws his hand up (very stealthily) at the answer. It’s amazing how Iruka immediately believes what Kakashi says, because the man’s face just sort of drops in to that of concern and he’s peering at Kakashi and fussing over him. “Oh, oh... I’m so sorry hear that. WIll you be all right for the weekend? You know if you need more rest or some time off, I can cover your portion of the chaperoning -- please don’t stress yourself.”

“Ah, I’ll be fine. Don’t worry.” Kakashi immediately tries to assuage Iruka’s concerns. Proverbial sweat drop hanging over his head.

“All right…” Iruka says but he doesn’t look too convinced. “But the moment you show any signs of fatigue, Kakashi-sensei, I will insist you stay in bed and not stress yourself too much. Please let me know if I can do anything to help.”

Kakashi goes bright red under his mask and is so glad Iruka can’t see it. He swallows dryly, imagining just what Iruka-sensei could do to “help him” whilst in bed. They’re all extremely inappropriate for a high school setting, however, so you’ll just have to be left to your own devices as to what goes on in his head.

“O-of co-course,” Kakashi stammers.

“Okay…” Iruka seems satisfied with the answer and simply smiles at Kakashi again before he turns his attention to his tea, takes a sip from it to wash down all the sweetness from the cupcakes. “Ah, Kakashi-sensei. During our trip, please take good care of me.”

Kakashi might just be starting to sweat now, because he certainly can think of even more ways as to how he can take care of Iruka.

“A-ah, ye-yes, I will try my best,” he manages to say, and then, after another moment or two of staring at Iruka and steadily flushing more under his mask, Kakashi gets up abruptly as he excuses himself and rushes out of the staff room to dart towards the bathroom, leaving Iruka blinking after him in mild confusion.

Tenzou takes this as his cue to do some damage control for Kakashi’s poor sake and just distracts the young teacher with idle chitchat to take his mind off Kakashi’s abrupt strange behavior. Tenzou just hopes Kakashi comes up with a better game plan or remembers how to be cool because seriously? This can only go so far. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be continued! 
> 
> We hope you like this silly fic, despite the writing being absolutely terrible! Find out if Kakashi manages to regain his cool in the next chapter!


	2. Chapter 2

It’s almost offensive how bright the sun is on the morning of the trip.

Kakashi gives the sun something of a glare, as though it’s to blame for his terrible morning. He’d barely been able to sleep all night (or the night before that, or the night before _that_ ), and had spent most of the time in bed tossing and turning and agonizing over the impending doom that would surely await him in the hours to come. He has the worst feeling about this trip, the kind that crawls up your back like the shiver you get when you feel like something’s going to go wrong.

Maybe Iruka will find out how he feels about him and be completely disgusted. Or maybe Kakashi’ll end up doing something completely embarrassing, like get too drunk and hit on Iruka, only to be rejected.

And why on earth is it so damn hot? Why did they schedule an onsen trip on such a humid day? What is the point of onsen trips, anyway?

(Sometimes Kakashi really regrets his decision to become a teacher and wonders if he maybe should have just stayed in the military, instead.)

As Kakashi stands with a hand shielding his eyes from the sun, miserably counting down the minutes to the inevitable in the back courtyard of the school and not _anywhere_ near the bus, a hand suddenly falls upon his shoulder. It’s a most energetic hand which belongs to none other than Maito Gai.

“GOOD MORNING, Kakashi! Are you ready for a most YOUTHFUL, HOT-BLOODED trip?” Gai exclaims far too loudly. Each adjective is, of course, punctuated with a swing of green-clad hips, and somehow Gai has struck quite the pose. He waits expectantly for Kakashi to reply, somehow, all whilst holding the pose.

A few long seconds pass. A breeze randomly blows by, carrying a dandelion and a few leaves.

This, however, does not deter Gai at all, who keeps grinning with his Nice Guy Smile.

Kakashi just sort of grunts in Gai’s general direction when Gai refuses to break the pose, which of course, leads to another round of Gai telling Kakashi just how _hip_ he is for responding with a non-response.

Kakashi just looks up at the sky and sighs. This is going to be a _terrible_ trip.

Naturally, Gai is terrible at reading Kakashi’s cues and continues on, far too loudly, “Come, Kakashi! We must not keep our students waiting!” Kakashi suddenly finds himself with one of Gai’s arms looped around his shoulders and he’s tugged in. Gai loudly whispers, with a conspiratorial grin. “And we don’t want to keep your True Love waiting, either!”

There might even be some sort of sparkle in his eye.

“He’s not the love of my life, Gai.” Kakashi deadpans and lifts a hand up to wearily push Gai off of him.

Gai, however, just grins brightly at him and winks. He is the biggest supporter of Kakashi’s Youthful Passion for Iruka. “Don’t worry, I’ll keep your secret, Kakashi! I have faith in your Youthful Passion! You must have faith too, my rival!”

The only thing Kakashi has faith in is Gai’s incredible ability to be overwhelmingly loud at far too early in the morning. Luckily for him, Gai doesn’t stick around for much longer. He claps him on the back one more time before announcing with a great bound in his step that he must go perform his other Youthful Duties, leaving Kakashi to his own devices, which ends up with him being about ten minutes late to the bus.

By the time Kakashi arrives at the curbside, everyone else has already boarded. He can see Naruto already trying to pick a fight with Sasuke through the glass. Sakura and Ino are sitting together and giggling over something or other -- probably boys, girls tend to really be concerned with boys at that age. And of course. _Of course_ , Iruka is standing right outside the bus, holding a clipboard and looking a little concerned and frazzled.

Shit. Kakashi was really hoping that Iruka would be on the bus by now, but apparently he doesn’t have great luck when it comes to the younger teacher, because when Iruka spots him approaching the bus, he throws his hands up in the air and approaches him. Whatever concern that had been on his face is promptly wiped out and replaced by severe irritation that is threatening to bubble out to anger.

"Where WERE you? We should have been on the road ten minutes ago! Do you understand how crucial it is to be on time especially with a bus full of children? Kakashi-sensei, I can fully expect you to be late, but really, would it hurt to be on time just once?" Well, the anger does show at this point, and Kakashi just kind of wishes he could somehow disappear right there. He might even be a little pale under his mask. “I expected better of you! Just get on the damn bus!"

Iruka huffs and turns around, ticking Kakashi’s name off the list furiously, before climbing up the steps of the bus and facing the students and asking them to settle down because they will be leaving soon.

Being scolded by one’s romantic interest is never a very fun thing, and Kakashi hadn’t even been able to get in much of a breath by means of pitiful excuse. He didn’t even get a chance to apologize, really, because Iruka had been pretty angry at him. (Which is _just_ what Kakashi needs right about now.) He sighs and adjusts his duffel bag, which he’d slung over his shoulder, and dutifully boards the bus after Iruka.

They haven’t even left yet, and this trip is _already_ terrible.

And apparently, it’s about to get worse, because you see, there are are only two seats left on the bus.  The moment Iruka had stomped off to give Kakashi a piece of his mind, Tenzou had herded everyone and strategically changed their seating positions, leaving only two seats available, thereby forcing Iruka and Kakashi to sit together.

Bets were made, rather enthusiastically. How long will it take for a conversation to brew? How long before Kakashi makes a blunder of himself? How long before Kakashi blushes? And how long before Iruka loses his shit, for whatever reason?

Genma was nice enough to tally the bets in a little notebook.

The teachers’ faces iron out to a smooth expression the moment the two teachers board. Iruka does not seem to notice where he is supposed to be sitting and with whom, and he probably doesn't care with how he's walking down the aisle and making sure all the kids are safely sitting and there is nothing hazardous lying around that may cause an accident.

All eyes however, are on Kakashi.

There may be a touch of smugness.

"Good morning, Senpai~" Tenzou greets, when he's sure that Iruka is the very back of the bus fussing with the children.

Kakashi looks like he’s about to have a small aneurysm, however, and has gone very, very pale as he stands frozen in place at the front of the bus, staring at the _only two remaining seats_ on the entire bus. The only way an entire bus could have ended up with only two seats remaining like this is if someone had orchestrated this. Someone very diabolical. Someone like his smug shitstain of a kouhai who’s looking at him a little too intently.

“I see that you were in charge of the seating arrangements, Tenzou,” Kakashi says very dryly as he stares down at his kouhai. Or more precisely, he _glares_ at him in a way that suggests that he will make him regret this for the rest of his life.

All of this sends Genma and Gai into a fit of giggles, promptly joined by the rest of the staff. Anko even snorts in the middle of trying to stifle her laughter and it's funny how all the laughing immediately ceases, like a switch is flicked on when Iruka joins them at the front of the bus and signals the driver that they're ready.

Kakashi hates all of them, and mentally makes a note to not get any of them presents for their birthdays this year.

The bus gives a bit of a jolt at the release of the handbrake.

“Kakashi-sensei, do you want the aisle seat or the window seat?" Iruka asks, holding onto the railing of the bus, since they are very slowly pulling out of the driveway.

Kakashi tries not to stare too much at the way Iruka’s shirt has ridden up a little, revealing a little strip of tanned skin and a bit of hipbone. It’s rather difficult, because that hipbone is extremely distracting, and _extremely_ attractive, and Kakashi is starting to have extremely inappropriate thoughts on a bus full of kids. (But at least, to his credit, he doesn’t get a nosebleed or anything quite so pitiful over the sight of a little skin.)

He does, however, sort of gesture a bit at the window seat for Iruka to take a seat first. “I’ll take the aisle,” he says, figuring that the window is probably more comfortable. Hopefully, if he’s lucky, Iruka will just nap the entire way and they won’t have to talk at all.

Iruka takes his seat wordlessly and gets comfortable. It's going to be quite a bus ride and because they are ridiculously early, there is a high percentage three-quarters of the bus will fall asleep for the first hour or so.

Or so Iruka hopes.

Just as he sits down though, his stomach gives quite a loud and embarrassing rumble and he gives Kakashi a small sheepish look, a bright flush dusting his cheeks.

"You didn't hear that." Iruka says, "I kind of skipped breakfast." A beat. "And yesterday's dinner, too."

Kakashi just gives him a bit of a slightly concerned look as he sits down in his seat and sets his bag down on his lap. “Why have you been skipping meals?” He asks, as he unzips one of the pockets of the duffel bag to search for some protein bars that he might be able to give to Iruka, only to discover that it’s filled with socks.  

Iruka just laughs.

"I fell asleep early without intending to do. And this morning, I did not hear my alarm and pretty much just rushed my way to school. But no matter! According to our schedule, we should be making our first gas station stop in an hour. I can pick up a cup of coffee and something to eat then."  Iruka beams, like this is a brilliant plan, dimples hollowed. "Oh, sorry for yelling at you earlier. This trip is quite stressful."

Kakashi can’t help but stare at Iruka like a schoolboy in love for a moment, drinking up the sight of his bright smile, the way his eyes crinkle at the corners with warmth, and the dimples in his cheeks. (Iruka has the most beautiful smile.) His heart might have even skipped a beat at the sight. There might even be some sparkles and bubbles floating in the air behind Iruka. The bus goes over a pothole and Kakashi’s shaken back into full attention as he flushes slightly and looks away from the other teacher, and down to his bag. He shakes his head in a sort of gesture that suggests Iruka really has nothing to apologize for.

“Don’t worry about it, I was late,” he says as he digs around in another one of the pockets and manages to find a slightly squashed energy bar, which he holds up. “Here,” he hands the bar to Iruka without much explanation, not really looking at him, either.

“Thank you.” Iruka says at the offer, looking grateful as he starts to peel it immediately and takes a bite. “These are a life saver, to be fair. I remember living on practically only these as a college student. I would carry a box of these in my bag all the time.”

“Ah, I see. Well, if you want another one, I have a few more in my bag." Kakashi doesn’t tell Iruka that he more or less still lives on the energy bars, as that would probably be a pretty embarrassing thing to admit. Usually men their age have better eating habits, and Iruka is the type who would probably scold him if he said anything along those lines, so instead, he just focuses on rummaging through his bag and ends up pulling out a book. He knows quite well that Tenzou and his fellow co-workers had conspired to get him to sit next to Iruka to make them talk, but Kakashi doesn’t even know what to talk about, let alone have some sort of great stirring conversation. And it certainly doesn’t help that every time he looks at Iruka, he gets very, very distracted by the shape of his mouth, either…  

That generally doesn’t make for good conversation.

Luckily for Kakashi, Iruka ends up being more concerned with eating than with talking. Eventually, the energy bar wrapper is crumpled and tucked away. Now that they have settled in the cool air conditioned bus and everything seemed to be smooth sailing, Iruka’s shoulders slump from the exhaustion of organizing the entire trip. He finds himself leaning his head back against the chair and staring out at the greenery from where they’ve taken one of the high ways, and sighs.

“Well, only about two hours to go I suppose.” Iruka sighs and closes his eyes momentarily.

Kakashi glances at Iruka with a bit of a hum as he opens his book, somewhat relieved that the younger teacher plans on taking a nap because that means that he won’t have to try and make some half-assed attempt at keeping up with him in conversation. He flips his book open to the section he left off on and tries to get back to reading about very inappropriate things he shouldn’t be reading around small children. Or in public. But he ends up just sort of skimming over the words and not really absorbing them, too distracted by the fact that Iruka smells like oranges and cinnamon, like the tea he drinks every morning. And by the sound of his breath as he starts to fall asleep.

He ends up just sitting there with the book open, reading and rereading over and over, increasingly aware of how close Iruka’s thigh is to brushing his own, with only about an inch and a half of space between them.

Unfortunately for Kakashi, the sound of paper shuffling that makes Iruka crack an eye and what he sees makes him huff mildly, partly in amusement, partly in disapproval.

“Must you read that _now_?” Iruka sighs in a bit of resignation, shifting in his seat and unknowingly bridging the small space between them to peek at the chapter Kakashi is reading. “The last thing we want to is to set a bad example to the kids.”

But all Kakashi says is a light, “Maa, ne,” and turns a page.

Iruka settles back though, not making any motions to take the book away, where he normally would have, and simply finds a comfortable spot in the too upright chair and closes his eyes once more.

Iruka hums softly and it seems like exhaustion wins over his will to be polite. Between Kakashi’s awkwardness and trying to pretend the world is all good when it’s not because Iruka’s knee is now brushing against his, and Iruka himself trying to fully relax and recharge before the kids drives him mad, it doesn’t take that long for Iruka to go out like a lightbulb.

It’s all very innocent, really, how a slight dip in the road results in his head tilting slightly to the side and onto Kakashi’s shoulder.

Kakashi freezes, going very, very still as he tries not to instinctively jerk away. This is the closest Iruka has ever been to him before, and he’s _using his shoulder as a pillow_ , which is precisely the sort of thing Kakashi’s always wanted (amongst many other things which are completely inappropriate for school). It’s almost like a scene out of _Icha Icha Paradise_ , when Junko falls asleep on Akira’s shoulder on the boat ride down the river. Except, they aren’t in a book, and Iruka really isn’t Junko. (And Kakashi certainly isn’t a dashing hero out of a romance novel. If anything, he’s _usually_ the lecherous side character that breaks everyone’s hearts. Except, in _this_ particular story, he’s somehow become the proverbial blushing schoolboy.)

If his heart can beat any faster, it would probably do something extremely stereotypical, like pop out of his chest.

Kakashi can feel his face getting extremely hot, and he’s sure that he’s probably a shade of extremely bright red under his mask. In fact, he can even feel a few sweat drops forming on his temples as he tries to tell himself to keep calm, though the book in his hand might just be shaking a little.

A few rows back, Gai, who has been secretly watching all of this with great joy for his Eternal Rival, who finally has an opportunity to engage in his moment of Youthful Passion, suddenly finds a hand clapped over his mouth just as he’s about to let out a momentous shout of glee with a fist in the air, and ends up flailing a bit in his seat when the shout is stifled from across the narrow bus aisle.

Tenzou pulls Gai down, and flashes him his infamous Doom Face™ and hushes him to keep quiet or else he will wake Iruka up and that will be the _end_ of Kakashi’s _Youthful experience_. The commotion attracts Kakashi’s attention away from Iruka long enough to turn around and catch the tail end of this series of rather ridiculous events, taking in the sight of his kouhai leaning across the bus aisle with one hand smashed over Gai’s mouth. It takes a few seconds but Gai eventually calms down and opts to grin _very widely_ at Kakashi instead once Tenzou lets go of him, while continuously nodding and winking along with Genma, giving Kakashi a Nice Guy Thumbs Up for good measure. Tenzou _sighs_ at this because yes, indeed, this is all very exciting.

Tenzou settles back in his seat and then leans over and very cheekily whispers into Kakashi’s ear, “Turned on yet?”

Of course, there are two ways to deal with this situation for a man in Kakashi’s position.

1.) He can turn around and smack his insubordinate little shit of a kouhai who is sitting right behind him for orchestrating all of this, but that would require him to push Iruka off of his shoulder, which clearly isn’t really an option if Kakashi wants to sit back and enjoy the fact that Iruka _is_ using him as a pillow.

2.) He can just sit there and bear the indignation of his insubordinate little shit of a kouhai and equally shitty colleagues who have no conception of respecting his privacy and all seem to be extremely concerned with meddling in his otherwise nonexistent relationship with Iruka.  This course of action would mean Iruka would continue to use his shoulder as a pillow, and all Kakashi has to put up with is the peanut gallery behind them.

Kakashi, being a very reasonable and intelligent man, ends up going with the path of least resistance.

His eyes curl into two perfect arcs.

“Tenzou~?” It almost comes out saccharine.

“Yes, Senpai~?” Tenzou is practically beaming. Along with everyone else.

“I’m going to make you regret this for the rest of your life~” Kakashi says far too brightly, and then turns back around.

Tenzou momentarily looks terrified. “Shit, Iruka-sensei is awake!”

“Really, Tenzou, what do you take me for. You can’t even see him from your position,” Kakashi drawls, completely unimpressed when he glances over to his shoulder and confirms that Iruka is still very asleep. And still very fucking cute.

...maybe he shouldn’t have looked. He can feel his face getting hot all over again.

“But you _looked_.” Tenzou said, and then promptly throws his head back, covers his mouth and joins the chorus of stifled snorts and guffaws because clearly, Kakashi losing his shit seems to be the primetime of entertainment for the _entire_ staff. With the exception of Shibi who isn’t sure what is so funny in the first place.

Kakashi decides at that moment that none of the staff will be receiving New Years presents either this year. And maybe for good measure, they won’t be getting birthday presents _next_ year, either.  

Tenzou has to wipe a tear from his eye, and his sides are aching from how he is trying to stay _quiet_.

But despite their attempts to stay quiet, Iruka shifts in his sleep and makes a throaty sound of disapproval but otherwise, simply continues to nap on Kakashi’s shoulder. And for a little while, nothing much happens, other than Iruka sleeping soundly and Kakashi sitting there very stiffly with every single muscle of his body locked up (as though movement might somehow wake the sleeping teacher). When ten minutes turn to twenty, eventually, Kakashi relaxes a little.

This isn’t so bad, really. It’s kind of nice, even, having Iruka this close.

But just when he starts getting used to the idea of Iruka sleeping on his shoulder, something soft and warm suddenly drops onto his thigh and when Kakashi looks down, his breath catches in his throat because somehow, in his sleep, Iruka’s hand dropped down from where it’d been resting on his own thigh and has now wandered over to Kakashi’s. And just as he’s about to move that hand, they go over a bump and…

 _Iruka’s hand falls right between his legs,_ fingertips delicately brushing his inner thigh, sending a small wave of heat curling through him.

Kakashi tries not to lose his shit entirely as he stares, completely unable to control the immediate _extremely inappropriate and unfortunate_ reaction that’s happening in his pants at the proximity of Iruka’s hand so close to his crotch. And really, this can’t be happening right now. This really shouldn’t be happening right now. This is all Tenzou’s doing. (Kakashi is going to kill him, he really is.)

Meanwhile, the peanut gallery is trying their best not to explode with laughter when they notice a change in Kakashi’s constitution. None of them have ever seen the literature teacher _that_ shade of red before, when normally he’s very cool and collected. And there might just be waves of steam coming off of him, too.

For Kakashi, however, there is absolutely nothing funny about this at all. Not even in the slightest. If anything, he’s trying his best not to panic, given the situation he finds himself in. He very carefully reaches for Iruka’s hand and gingerly removes it off his thigh to set back down on Iruka’s lap, all the while trying his best to fight off the sizeable bulge starting to form in his pants. Screwing his eyes shut, he does his best to just _breathe_ as he covers his lap with his book, and starts to drum up the most _unattractive_ images he can possibly imagine, filled with crusty old men with large pot-bellies dressed in sweat-stained white tank-tops and torn up underpants.

Genma wastes not a single minute and immediately snaps a few photos of the couple. He may not have been able to catch the whole debacle with Iruka’s hand falling between Kakashi’s legs, but he has enough proof to keep their staff room entertained for _months_. There is a brief collective buzz of cellphones and when everyone looks at the photograph that’s been shared through their private group chat (that Iruka happens to not be a part of), there is a brief explosion of snorts and coughs, which is followed by a fit of giggles.

And really, there is nothing remotely _quiet_ about the entire affair. It’s a miracle that none of the kids had come up the front to see what is going on.

It is enough to make Iruka shift in his seat and briefly wake up with a sleepy look in his eye, ponytail coming loose, causing a few strands to fall, and look at Kakashi. Who seems asleep. And just like that Iruka goes right back to napping, pillowing his cheek more comfortably on Kakashi’s shoulder, crossing his arms across his middle, until his breaths even out and he’s out like a light once again.  

In the intervening time, despite the orchestra of snickers and giggles and Iruka stirring awake then going right back to sleep once more, Kakashi somehow manages to regain control over his lower faculties and quells the code red emergency that was quite literally about to pop up in his pants. Really, he knows that everyone means well, and that they just want to encourage him to make a move on Iruka, but this is a little much. It usually takes quite a bit to piss him off, but all of this is really starting to push him to his limit. There’s only so much more of this he can take, even if he does have to admit, some of the tactics, such as calculated seating, are right out of his own book -- he just never expected to have it used against him quite like this.

Asuma sure as hell didn’t have such a difficult time with Kurenai, even if he did need a bit of urging (with a side of trolling), but somehow this seems more extreme. But maybe that’s just because, this time, Kakashi is on the receiving end of it.

Iruka shifting against his shoulder knocks Kakashi out of his quiet fuming and he opens an eye just as he notices Iruka’s head drooping, sliding off the curve of his shoulder and starting to plummet down. He quickly reaches out with his free hand and catches Iruka with fingertips gently pressed against the crown of his head, and then nudges his head back in position so he can sleep a little more comfortably, his actions receiving a, “Nice, Kakashi!” from Gai, who is surely giving him a big thumbs up and a Nice Guy Smile.

Tenzou’s snort is quite loud but he doesn’t say much. There are a few more dirty jibes here and there, but eventually, the steam runs out and everyone falls quiet or falls asleep, too. It is in the quiet bus ride despite Shibi’s incredibly loud snores, that Tenzou realizes that perhaps the reason why everyone enjoys picking on Kakashi when it comes to his infatuation with Iruka is because it is when Kakashi is around Iruka that he seems more grounded. That he is not always his cool, suave, collected self, completely different from the deadly commander Tenzou had served under in the military, the soldier who had too many missions under his belt, whose hands are soaked in blood and gunpowder.

That Kakashi, in all essence, behaves like a normal human being.

It’s such a contrast that to Tenzou, it’s sometimes hard to believe that it’s the same person.

Tenzou thinks it’s good for Kakashi, this silly crush. Because Kakashi had lost too many during his tenure as a military commander, has had to make too many choices that had resulted in scars that run deeper than what the eye can see. Tenzou had thought it a joke when one day, Kakashi asked him if he’d be interested in teaching botanical science at the local high school. For only a short while, Kakashi had said. I’ll go where you’ll go, Senpai, is what Tenzou had told him.

And a short while had turned to a year. A short while then became indefinite when Iruka had walked into the staff room and introduced himself as a Umino Iruka. Iruka had been a bony little thing then dressed in a shirt that had looked more appropriate in a pizza parlour’s table rather than on his torso, so incredibly shy and polite, and looking awkward with his ratty satchel hanging across his middle and holding a box of muffins. Simple, down to earth and kind Iruka who had simply smiled at Kakashi and that had been _it_.

Tenzou has had half the mind, on numerous occasions, to just corner Iruka himself, give him a good shake and ask him if he’s interested in Kakashi and if he would like to date him, to save Kakashi the trouble of doing it himself because he keeps insisting that he’s not capable of such a thing. (Or maybe it’s just that he thinks he doesn’t _deserve_ to do such a thing, Tenzou’s not really sure.) Tenzou has lost count on how many times Kakashi has gotten so gobsmacked _stupid_ that it had been _too_ painful to watch.

But maybe, it’s better to just let things run its course, like they are right now with Iruka sleeping on Kakashi’s shoulder and Kakashi somehow trying to figure out how to properly act in this situation. And really, that’s the crux of the problem -- Kakashi always seems to know exactly how he should act, what course of action to take, and the best way to _be_ in any given situation. Whether that’s commanding a platoon across a war zone or wrangling a class full of extremely rowdy, boisterous children into submission after recess, he somehow always knows exactly what kind of face to show the world, even if it’s only just a pair of arched eyes over a medical mask, or an impassive, unreadable expression that is as unnerving as it is somehow the face that everyone’s come to associate with Kakashi.

Except when he’s around Iruka.

For some completely inconceivable, strange reason, Kakashi simply doesn’t know _what_ kind of face to put on when Iruka is around, or how to act, or how he should even _be_ because he’s never met anyone who smiles quite as brightly as Iruka. Some people call it love at first sight, but Kakashi doesn’t know if he believes in love -- at least not for himself. And certainly not love at first sight. People like him, people who have lived a little too hard, don’t get to experience that kind of love, don’t get to ever live out the great love stories found in the pages of books like _Icha Icha_ and the soap operas Tenzou likes to watch so much.

And maybe that’s the problem, really. Iruka’s a little too pure, a little too _good_ , and Kakashi’s not used to that kind of brightness and it completely sets him off his game and makes a gesture as innocuous as Iruka falling asleep on his shoulder seem like a really big deal when it isn’t.

It certainly means more to him than it does to Iruka, that much Kakashi knows for certain.

But maybe it isn’t so bad to enjoy this for just a little while longer.

Even if they have the most annoying audience in the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be continued...! :)


	3. Chapter 3

As much as Kakashi would have enjoyed continuing to act as Iruka’s pillow, all good things come to an end, and Iruka eventually wakes up.

Iruka spends the _entire_ rest of the drive to the onsen apologizing repeatedly, making continuous offers to do Kakashi’s laundry for a month, of buying him a new shirt, of doing anything and everything he possibly can, because apparently, much to Iruka’s outright horror (and obvious exhaustion), he had drooled _all over_ Kakashi’s shirt.

“I am so sorry, Kakashi-sensei. I really am! Please, please accept my offer. I’ll even make you bento lunches for a week -- oh this is so embarrassing! It’s like, I’m a teething toddler! Completely unacceptable! Where the _fuck_ are those wet wipes I packed??” Iruka rummages frantically in his bag for sanitizing wipes so Kakashi can at least wipe the _smell_ of his droll off his shirt. Iruka’s embarrassment, it seems, is over exaggerating the entire ordeal a little too much. “I could have sworn they are here -- just hold on a second, Kakashi-sensei, I’ll get them out and I can at least somehow, just kind of wipe that smell off for now. Until we get to our rooms and you can change -- and really, please, give me your shirt to clean. I’m very sorry.”

Iruka does not seem to notice the collective snickers from the other teachers. At some point, Kurenai decides to take pity on him and hands him her small pack of sanitary wipes, which Iruka all but leaps for, leaning across Kakashi to reach for the small pack.

“It’s okay, really, Iruka-sensei,” Kakashi says for the twentieth time since Iruka woke up and promptly started to freak out. Unfortunately, despite his best efforts to calm the younger teacher down, Iruka really doesn’t seem to hear him and is very intent on attempting the impossible task of sanitizing the drool-spot he’d made on Kakashi’s shirt. In fact, he’s even ripping the package open and is now dabbing at the spot, despite it being a complete waste of effort.

Kakashi’s not even the least bit upset by this. If anything, he finds it kind of amusing, just how concerned and flustered Iruka became over all of this. It’s really kind of cute, and it’s probably the most attention Iruka’s ever given him at one time, so intensely focused on trying to blot out the spot on his shirt. It’s not even that big of a deal.

Kakashi certainly isn’t going to turn away attention from Iruka though, and he also isn’t going to say no to Iruka’s homemade bentos for lunch. And now that _he_ isn’t the subject of the snickers all around them, he doesn’t even mind the ridiculous eyebrow waggles that Gai is directing his way with a not-so-surreptitious double thumbs up.

In fact, the entire bus has decided to join in on Gai’s not-so-surreptitious double thumbs up gestures, while some of the more reserved staff members opt to clap Kakashi on the shoulder instead. Iruka had always found some of his colleagues’ behavior towards Kakashi quite strange and that is not to say he hasn’t noticed how everyone seems to be cheering Kakashi on for some reason or the other. Iruka always found Kakashi to be socially awkward. Maybe he had some sort of mental setback when handling public crowds or social settings. Iruka reasons _that_ is why their colleagues always seems to be cheering Kakashi on. After all, the teaching staff of Konoha High, compared to other staffs of schools Iruka had temporarily worked in, is probably the most homey, family oriented Iruka has ever seen. So Iruka pretends, like he always has, to not notice these gestures and looks the other way if it means that much to Kakashi.

This is not to say that the cheering on that the staff members seem to do when Iruka isn’t paying attention has done anything to alleviate Iruka’s embarrassment. His cheeks remain red throughout the rest of the bus trip, after he realized that blotting out the drool patch with sanitary wipes did not prove helpful. The blush doesn’t leave him even long after they disembarked from the bus. In fact, some of Iruka’s older students, the ones who are rowdy and _very_ outspoken like Naruto, have seen fit to tease him about it with sentences like, _Oi Iruka-sensei do you have diarrhea or something_ or, what Iruka genuinely found quite annoying, _Sensei, your temper will give you hemorrhoids._

(The hemorrhoids comment seems to be growing in popularity.)

It isn’t until they are ready to go on their separate ways at the lobby of the ryokan with all the younger students coded with colored stickers on their sleeves and their bags delivered to their rooms that Iruka momentarily, if not completely, forgets about his embarrassment. He is handing out maps of the establishment to the staff, some already herding their group out the door, when he hands Kakashi his map and smiles.

“See you in the room when we get back, I suppose! Please try to enjoy the trip, Kakashi-sensei!” Iruka says, giving his version of cheering Kakashi on too, because it seems to be very important.

From the reflection on one of the inn’s large glass windows, Iruka can visibly see Gai practically winking his eyes out of their sockets and cheering Kakashi on as well. For whatever reason, Kakashi looks very uncomfortable by all of the attention. Maybe he just needs a little more cheering, or maybe it’s a little too overwhelming. Either way, the literature teacher seems to look a bit flushed over his mask as he just takes the map from Iruka and walks right out the door without another word, his class following after their awkward teacher.

Iruka sighs. This is going to be a _very_ long day.

 

*

 

A “long day” turns out to be far longer than Iruka had expected.

Iruka lost count on how many hours he’s been on his feet, going back and forth, double checking, head counting, fretting, making sure no one is sick or hurt or has forgotten their toothbrush or lost their bag or shoe or got caught making out or some other ridiculous thing kids somehow manage to get themselves into. He ends up one of the last few people to retire to his room. He didn’t even get to appreciate what the room looked like when he had dropped his bags off earlier before he had to rush out and take care of things. Hell, he doesn’t even know if he’s in the right room, except the room number matches. He thinks.

Tired and already pulling his ponytail free while unbuttoning his shirt, Iruka makes his way for the bathroom. All he wants is a nice hot shower and to curl up and pass out on that large futon that looks, so, _so inviting_. Shirt hanging open, Iruka reaches for the door knob to the connecting bathroom and opens it. And there is a man standing with his back to the door, a towel wrapped low around his waist, beads of water still clinging to his damp skin.

Iruka looks past him and sees his reflection in the mirror. The man’s wet silver hair hangs in tousled locks that drip down the side of his _extremely_ attractive face. The man has hooded grey eyes, a scar running down over the left. His nose isn’t perfectly straight -- there’s a small bump in the middle, probably from a broken nose that was never properly fixed, but somehow it makes him more attractive. High cheekbones drop down to a sharp jawline, covered with a thin fuzz of silver shadow.

The man stares at him in the mirror with something like shock, a blue toothbrush sticking out of the corner of his mouth. He has a mouthful of foamy toothpaste which slightly obscure his lips, but Iruka can make out a bit of a scar cutting across the left corner of his mouth.  

Iruka stands there frozen for a moment, staring at the almost naked stranger, at a chiseled body of perfection and a canvas of scars, and a face that he can’t quite take his eyes off. At the trickle of water slowly running down over the tendon of his neck.

Iruka realizes just how _exhausted_ he must be if he’s busy checking out some stranger in a room that he’s not even supposed to be in. “Sorry. Wrong room,” Iruka abruptly says and walks right back out, slamming the bathroom door behind him.. Except, that his backpack right there in the room! And there is his duffel bag! Then who -- oh.

(Kakashi has a scar over his left eye and silver hair.)

_Oh!_

Iruka whirls on his heel and yanks the bathroom door open again, eyes wide with shock as he just _stares_ at the man, mouth agape. “ _Kakashi-sensei?!”_

Kakashi _stares_ at Iruka, face flushing with embarrassment, toothbrush _still in his mouth._ And then he proceeds to close the door right in Iruka’s face.

The lock clicks loudly a moment later.

From the other side, Iruka thumps his head against the hard wood of the door and then sort of sheepishly attempts to apologize. “Kakashi-sensei, I’m sorry!” He feels like quite an ass now for barging in on the unsuspecting teacher, who’s always been so secretive about his face. Iruka had always assumed that the literature teacher wore a mask because of his social anxieties or because he was sickly, but a face like _that_ should have no reason to be covered all the time. He can’t imagine _why_ Kakashi spends so much effort covering it up, but he feels pretty guilty for invading his privacy like that. (Though it really wasn’t even his fault -- Kakashi should have locked the door!)

As Iruka lies there on his futon staring at the ceiling, inside the steamy bathroom, Kakashi spends the entire time _agonizing_ over the fact that the first time Iruka saw his face, there was a blue toothbrush hanging out the side of his mouth and he was more or less drooling foamy toothpaste. He can’t imagine a less sexier or unattractive image -- a mouthful of toothpaste and toothbrush hanging from the corner.

Kakashi had been completely unprepared. He probably had a ridiculous look on his face that he can never take back and Iruka probably found him extremely unattractive, given the way he just _walked out_.

He stares at the cloth mask sitting on the side of the sink, unsure of whether he should put it on or not. On one hand, Iruka’s already seen his face, so it would be weird for him to walk out with it on now. But on the other hand, Kakashi’s not sure how comfortable he’d be without it. The mask hides him from the rest of the world, and without it he feels… naked. Vulnerable.  

After a moment of consideration, he decides to put it back on, and then discovers that he seems to have left his shirt outside,  which isn’t quite as terrible as the prospect of leaving his mask off. Emerging from the bathroom with only a pair of black drawstring pants on, Kakashi beelines straight for his bag, crouching down to rummage through his bag with his back turned to Iruka, who sleepily just glances in his direction before getting up and padding into the bathroom. Kakashi can hear the water go on a moment later and it occurs to him that Iruka is just beyond him in the bathroom, _naked_.

There is probably  soap running down the length of his slender frame, water sluicing down over tanned skin. And Iruka’s hands are probably traveling over his body, sliding down to his--

Kakashi takes a deep breath and forces his mind to _stop_. The idea of Iruka pleasuring himself in the shower is as intrusive as it is appealing and all sorts of _wrong_. He shouldn’t fantasize about Iruka like this, especially when they’re sharing a room together and Iruka might come out of the bathroom at any time and discover Kakashi with a very visible raging problem in his pants.

The literature teacher lets out an exasperated sigh of frustration and then gets into his futon with a book and tries to concentrate on anything other than the thought of Iruka in the shower.

Eventually the water goes off in the bathroom, and Iruka comes back out.

“Kakashi-sensei, do you need anything before we go to bed?” Iruka asks pleasantly.

“I’m fine,” Kakashi says without looking up. He can hear Iruka’s footsteps drawing closer, and then the sound of a yawn.

“You sure? It’s been a long day… If you need anything, just let me know, okay?”

Kakashi makes the mistake of looking up at Iruka then, and discovers that the home economics teacher has emerged from the bathroom with only a towel around his waist, and is rummaging through his bag for some clothing. Beads of water glisten on his skin, and Kakashi’s breath catches in his throat as he follows the path of a particular droplet down the length of Iruka’s chest towards the towel around his waist. Iruka is lean and lightly muscled. He must work out, because Kakashi can make out pectoral muscles and a lightly defined stomach. It’s not quite the chiseled six pack that Kakashi maintains, but is still incredibly appealing.

Kakashi can imagine himself running his fingertips over those dips and grooves, dragging them over the ridges of Iruka’s hips and down into the valleys. He can see himself running his tongue languidly down the line that bisects his abdominal muscles, dragging his teeth over warm skin as he chases water droplets. Can almost _taste_ the water in his mouth and smell the clean scent of the soap Iruka used on his body.

Iruka slides on a pair of pajama pants on under his towel, then unwinds the towel around his waist. Kakashi watches as he rolls up a t-shirt in his hands, and then looks at him with a slightly perplexed look on his face. “Sensei...?”

Kakashi belatedly realizes that Iruka had asked him a question, and was trying to make sure that he was okay and if he needed anything. He shakes his head and jerks his eyes away, suddenly ashamed at the way he had more or less just openly fantasized about the other teacher, flushing a little under his mask.

Without really answering the question, Kakashi just drags the covers over him and lies down, turning his back on Iruka as he says, “I’m going to sleep.”

He can feel Iruka’s eyes on his back for a long time. What he doesn’t know is that Iruka is completely confused as he studies the Kakashi-shaped lump under the fluffy white kakebuton. Maybe he’s seeing things, because he could _swear_ that Kakashi’s eyes had dragged down over the length of his body, lingering a moment too long before he flushed and turned around. Iruka’s tired. So tired in fact, he’s most certainly seeing things.

Iruka hums, and gives his head a good shake to get the thought out of it. “Good night, Kakashi-sensei,” he says, and then reaches over to turn the light off and get into bed.

Kakashi just hums something back in response. He eventually turns onto his back and peeks at Iruka from the corner of his eyes. Somehow, Kakashi doesn’t think he’ll be getting much sleep tonight with Iruka lying so close to him. If Kakashi really wanted to, he could reach out and touch him, with how their futons had been arranged.

Kakashi is so tempted to reach out across the short space between them to brush the errant strands back from where they fall over Iruka’s face. He can imagine how soft Iruka’s hair would feel under his fingers. Like silk.  

Instead, he just watches Iruka’s face, the way his back rises and falls with each breath he takes. The way his dark lashes curl against his cheeks. Sighing softly, Kakashi turns onto his side, facing Iruka, pillowing his cheek with a folded arm.

… this is going to be a very, very long weekend, and Kakashi just hopes he can somehow manage to make it through it all without completely losing his mind.

 

*

 

The next morning, Iruka wakes up bright and early. It’s a quiet, almost robotic routine, how he pushes himself up and sits there for a minute, staring at nothing in particular for a while, which happens to be Kakashi’s sleeping form that he is seeing and not quite at the same time.

After a moment of blearily staring, the form takes on some sort of clarity and Iruka realizes that it’s Kakashi, fast asleep. During the night, the band that usually keeps Kakashi’s mask on had slipped off his ear, along with the kakebuton that had somehow managed to slide its way all the way down around his hips. Kakashi doesn’t even have a shirt on, and Iruka remembers that he was recovering from a cold. The poor man is going to just get sick again, especially with how chilly the room is from the air conditioning blasting. Iruka sighs and gets up, to sort of reach for the covers and tug it up to cover Kakashi a bit more.

It’s at that very moment that Kakashi makes a soft sound and turns in his sleep. In the process of his movement, the covers slide down more on his hips, dragging down the waistband of his pants as well, and Iruka suddenly realizes that there’s a rather conspicuous _something_ forming just under the thin material of Kakashi’s pants.

Iruka did not mean to notice, he really didn’t. But when you’re tucking someone in, and you’re sort of maneuvering the covers that are somewhere around the person’s hip and thighs, it’s a little hard _not to notice these kind of things_. Iruka’s blush goes all the way to the tips of his ears and spreads down his neck and chest, going all the way to his stomach.

Well this is awkward.

And Kakashi....

Iruka swallows and just pulls the covers up to Kakashi’s shoulders and then _tears_ his gaze away. For good measure, he crosses the room and turns the air conditioning down so the room isn’t quite so _freezing_. He also decides he’s going to do his best to not look Kakashi in the eye. He should get tea. Yes. Some tea. And maybe some coffee for the other teacher. And maybe he should leave a box of tissues beside him in case he wakes up and wants to do something about the _conspicuous_ thing in his pants. So Iruka fetches the box of tissues, sets it beside Kakashi, and quietly leaves the room. To get that tea. And Kakashi’s coffee. All the while trying his best to not remain the color of a ripe tomato.

By the time he returns, coffee and tea in hand, Iruka suddenly realizes that he’s facing a very large problem. He’d left that box of tissues next to the other teacher without considering if Kakashi _actually_ would use it. The thought of that makes Iruka turn into the shade of a fire hydrant again as he stares at the door and considers the man behind it. And then he feels a little guilty for even thinking that Kakashi would do something like that on a school trip. Kakashi-sensei might be very strange and kind of awkward, but he isn’t that much of a pervert as to do _that_ when he’s sharing a room with his coworker. Right?

With that in mind, Iruka takes a deep breath and walks into the room. Against his better judgment, he opens the door a little more slowly than usual and even cautiously peeks inside.

Of course, Kakashi is still asleep and Iruka feels like an idiot. He lets himself into the room and  moves to place the mug of coffee down next to Kakashi’s sleeping form. But just as he starts to set the mug down, Kakashi stirs a little and looks up at him sleepily, the mask falling off his face entirely as he yawns and covers his mouth with hand as he starts to sit up, propping himself up on one elbow.

“Mmnm.... is that for me?” Kakashi’s voice is husky with sleep as he gestures a bit at the coffee, seemingly still half-asleep. It’s almost… sexy. Sultry, even. _Completely_ un-Kakashi like!

“Y-Yes,” Iruka says and turns to look away as his face promptly _ignites_. Because... _because._ He can’t exactly _look_ at Kakashi right now. The sound of his voice and how he looks at him, eyes heavily lidded, lashes set at half-mast, is completely different from how Kakashi _usually is_. Kakashi is the weird awkward teacher in the staff room who doesn’t like sweets and always seems to have a problem talking to him, despite all the times Iruka’s attempted to make conversation and get to know the man. But right now, he’s somehow morphed into a very attractive, sexy man.

It doesn’t help that he doesn’t have his mask on.

It also doesn’t help that Iruka really shouldn’t be thinking of Kakashi as sexy in the first place! It’s completely inappropriate!

“Good morning... slept okay?” Iruka asks as he busies himself with his tea, somewhat looking at the other teacher out of the corner of his eye.

“Mm…”  Kakashi just hums in response, reaching for the coffee. He lifts his hand up, seemingly with the intention of removing his mask, then looks a little confused when his fingertips hit his bare cheek. Looking down, he realizes that his mask had fallen off. He stares at it a moment, and then rolls one of his shoulders back in something of a shrug. As though it doesn’t matter that he has no mask on. Or maybe he’s just too sleepy for it to matter, Iruka’s really not sure. Kakashi takes a slow sip of the coffee, eyes closing in the process. He sighs with satisfaction after he swallows, then sits up a bit more, mug in hand, and takes another sip.  

“You talk in your sleep,” he says as he turns to look at Iruka with a bit of amusement curling the edges of his mouth.

“I most certainly do _not!_ ” Iruka is suddenly so indignant and embarrassed. If anything, he’s even redder now and _looking_ right at Kakashi with a scowl. He doesn’t remember dreaming, or at least he can’t remember if it had been a dream or a thought. Something about ramen and closing the apartment door.  

“You were talking about ramen,” Kakashi murmurs with another slow sip of coffee.

So it hadn’t been a thought after all.

Iruka must have really been dreaming. But then, with a start, he realizes that Kakashi must have been watching him in his sleep for him to have noticed at all. “.... you watch me in my sleep?”

Kakashi almost chokes on his coffee, but manages to get it down, clearing his throat a little. His cheeks flush lightly, a faint pink high on his cheekbones. “I’m a light sleeper. It’s a little difficult to ignore someone when they’re talking in the middle of the night.”

“You watch me. In my sleep.” Iruka’s face goes flat. “There’s this thing called _ignoring_ , Kakashi-sensei. Cease making fun of me at once.”

Kakashi just blinks, and to Iruka’s consternation, he even has an eyebrow slightly raised. With his mask on, he might have looked a bit unimpressed or even bored. Without it… well, it’s just not fair, how attractive he is, and how his mouth forms this lopsided _smirk_ that’s usually hidden under his mask. “I’m not making fun of you, Iruka-sensei. If I wanted to do that I’d be like, ‘Ahhh ramennn.... so tasty.”

Leave it to Kakashi to do exactly what he said he wasn’t doing. The other teacher must not be a morning person, because he’s acting in such an uncharacteristic almost _insouciant_ way that almost seems completely unlike him. In fact, he’s even teasing Iruka! _Teasing him!_  Iruka is so red that he’s practically turning a shade of purple at this point, beyond embarrassed. His cheeks even puff up a bit as he frowns.  

“You just did.” Make fun of him, he means. And then, with a voice that suggests Kakashi shouldn’t even _think_ about arguing with him, he says, “Drink your coffee.”

Normally, an admonishment like that would get Kakashi to clam up. Normally, he would turn red and probably stop attempting to interact with Iruka because he’s so socially awkward. But Kakashi must really be a completely different person when he’s not fully awake, because he actually mutters into his cup, “I don’t know why you’re so embarrassed. It was kind of cute.”

Cute. He actually said that it was _cute._

 _I’ll show you cute_ , Iruka thinks angrily.  

Iruka doesn’t know what comes over him. He picks up the pillow on his bed and chucks it straight at Kakashi’s face, not even caring that the other teacher is holding a mug. Iruka’s so red that he’s practically radiating heat off his body and he just gets up with every intention of storming into the bathroom to get ready for the day and to wait out whatever crazy weird half-asleep Kakashi this is in favor of the shy, awkward, bumbling teacher that doesn’t make comments like this.

But he suddenly stops when Kakashi makes a sharp sound of surprise that almost sounds pained. But then, Kakashi probably didn’t appreciate the _scalding hot coffee first thing in the morning._ He turns around and sees that there is coffee dripping down the lower half of Kakashi’s face and onto his bare chest. It must have been really hot, because Kakashi’s pale skin is turning quite red.

“Sorry. Reflex,” Iruka says, and sort of shoves a towel in Kakashi’s general direction in a sort of huffy, annoyed way, sort of eyeing the deepening red patch from the burn on Kakashi’s chest as he tells himself he’s not too concerned. But the more he looks at Kakashi, the more he feels guilty. Especially when Kakashi just kind of frowns at the towel and takes it as he gets up and brushes past Iruka to the bathroom and turns the sink on, splashing cold water on his face and chest.

Iruka’s really starting to worry now. He comes up beside Kakashi and and reaches with a palm for his face, so he can actually see if his face is blistering.  “Let me see…”

Kakashi jerks away from his touch, though. “I’m fine,” he says, a brusque dismissal.

“Let me see,” Iruka repeats more firmly, and then pushes past the hand Kakashi has raised to wave him off to cup his face and turn him around so he can look at him. He thumbs the slightly red area gently. It’s not so bad. Just a little red, and will probably feel a little tender for a few hours. Kakashi’s expression dramatically changes from annoyed to something soft as Iruka examines him. And maybe he’s not used to being in such proximity to someone like this, because he gives his lower lip a nervous swipe of his tongue.

“I’ve had worse,” Kakashi says and then looks almost surprised that he said it at all. Maybe he hadn’t meant to.

“I can see that…” Iruka’s eyes fall on a large scar that mars Kakashi’s chest, where the skin is red from the coffee and is quite warm to the touch when he tentatively presses his fingertips against it. He’s not sure where Kakashi got that scar from. Maybe it was a very bad car accident, but somehow, Iruka doesn’t think that’s how he ended up with it.  “It’s not so bad. Here... one moment. I think I have some burn ointment.

Kakashi attempts to tell him that he doesn’t need it, but Iruka doesn’t listen. He finds the burn ointment in his bag and returns to Kakashi, uncapping the tube and squeezing a good amount on his finger.

“This will help soothe it…” he says as he starts to spread the ointment over the red patch on Kakashi’s chest.

“Ah... you really don’t have to…” Kakashi objects, but he doesn’t exactly make any move to _stop_ Iruka, either. So Iruka just ignores him and starts to dab and spread the ointment with his index and middle finger on Kakashi’s chest, patting it into his skin. He spreads it very gently and with great care because well, surely it’s a little uncomfortable. And maybe he didn’t really mean to, but he can’t help but curiously drag his fingers over the line of the scar, all jagged and dipped... and feels how fast Kakashi’s heart is racing. Now _that_ makes him look up to meet Kakashi’s gaze, fingers pausing once he’s spread enough, right there, on Kakashi’s chest.

Kakashi looks back down at him through his lashes, eyes dark. Iruka watches the way he seems to be fighting to control the pace of his breaths. He must really not be used to this sort of thing, being touched like this. Maybe it makes him anxious, or maybe he’s just really nervous about it all.

“Th-thank you, Iruka...sensei…”

Iruka pulls his fingers away from his chest and starts to dab some ointment on Kakashi’s face, careful to not get any on his mouth. In doing so, he ends up tracing the lines of the lower half of that face that is always covered with his fingertips. He finds himself focusing on the curve of the other teacher’s mouth.  “No... don’t thank me... least I could do,” he says with a guilty shrug. “I owe you another cup, I believe. I won’t make you spill it this time..”

His eyes flick up at Kakashi then and he flushes a bit and tries to smile. It’s a bit of a twitchy smile, but it’s still a smile.

“I wasn’t trying to make fun of you, Iruka-sensei.”  Kakashi says after a moment, softly.

“Then what were you _trying_ to do?” Iruka asks as he uses his pinky to dab a bit of the ointment on the scar cutting against Kakashi’s lip, meeting Kakashi’s gaze and holding it. Iruka isn’t sure what Kakashi’s deal is or why his behavior sort of is like a teenager with a crush. But--

Wait. Wait just a moment, _really?!_

No, that’s not it. That _can’t_ be it, can it? Iruka stares at Kakashi then, a little more intently, studying him carefully. Could it be that the other teacher actually… likes him? With how intently he’s looking at Kakashi, it’s no surprise that Kakashi’s eyes slide away as his cheeks tinge slightly with pink. He looks almost conflicted, like he’s not sure if he wants to stand there with Iruka holding his face, or if he wants to run away like he normally does. But they aren’t in a school with students and coworkers milling around them and classes to teach or halls to duck into. It’s just the two of them in this small ryokan room, and Kakashi has nowhere to run.

“I really thought it was cute,” Kakashi mumbles after a moment, almost sheepishly.

Iruka’s not sure what he expected, but it certainly wasn’t that. He actually _laughs_ , and then cups Kakashi by the chin, holding it between his thumb and forefinger.  And maybe he shouldn’t say this, but he does anyway. “You’re the one being very, very _cute_ right now, Kakashi-sensei. Careful! I really do like cute people~”

Kakashi just turns a very interesting shade of red, and Iruka really starts to wonder if maybe Kakashi’s awkward behavior around him all this time is actually because he has a crush on him. That certainly would explain quite a lot about him, but Iruka doesn’t want to make any assumptions. After all, Kakashi’s never tried to make a move on him one way or another. So he puts the thought out of his mind and then decides to head off to breakfast, even giving Kakashi the chance to join him. Just the two of them.

But instead of taking him up on his offer, Kakashi turns him down, which confirms to Iruka that really, Kakashi is just awkward and he most likely does not have a crush on him.

(Iruka has no idea just how _wrong_ he is.)

Iruka merrily heads out just as Tenzou arrives with some minor schedule changes and says hello to the other teacher before heading out on his way to breakfast. Tenzou pokes his head into the room, wondering if Kakashi managed to sleep a wink last night, fully expecting his senpai to be completely cranky. Kakashi’s never been much of a morning person.

“Senpai?” Tenzou asks as he walks into the room and closes the door behind him.

“In here.” Kakashi’s voice is accompanied by the sound of running water.

Tenzou heads for the bathroom and then just _stops_ in the open doorway to stare and blink at Kakashi’s reflection in the mirror over the sink, where his senpai is brushing his teeth. Kakashi is shirtless, and there is a glistening spread of _something_ all over his chest and face, which is marred with angry red splotches.

Very cautiously, Tenzou asks, “What... happened... ?”

“Iruka-sensei spilled coffee on me,”  Kakashi explains, squeezing some toothpaste onto a toothbrush.  “And then he put burn cream on me.” The second sentence comes out kind of whimsical sounding as Kakashi sighs, a strange smile at the corners of his mouth.

Well. Tenzou wasn’t sure _what_ he was expecting, but this certainly isn’t it.

“I didn’t know Iruka-sensei was into playing nurse so early in the morning.” Tenzou tries not to grin. _Tries_. He utterly fails, though, and normally, Kakashi would probably smack him for leering at him like that, but instead, his senpai just kind of happily hums and continues to brush his teeth. This is all very strange

Tenzou just stares at him, at the floaty way Kakashi seems to be acting, at the sort of dreamy expression on his face.

He would never say it out loud, but Kakashi acting like a loser with a crush is... so surreal. There isn’t even a word that properly encapsulates how odd it is.

“There’s a party tonight. At the bar, nearby. Free drinks all around,” Tenzou says, pointedly.

Kakashi responds the expected way, through a mouthful of toothpaste. “Not interested.”

For as long as Tenzou has known him, Kakashi always avoids social gatherings. Especially ones that involve alcohol. It isn’t so much that Kakashi is a bad drunk or anything along those lines. If anything, Kakashi becomes a little too uninhibited when he’s drunk. And that isn’t even really the problem, for him. It’s more the people and the loud environment that Kakashi dislikes, and Tenzou knows this, but if there’s any way to get Kakashi to actually make a move and stop acting like a dumb schoolboy, it’s getting a few drinks in him.  

“Iruka is going,” Tenzou says smoothly.

Kakashi stops brushing his teeth for a moment. He looks at Tenzou in the mirror, and then just kind of nods, leaning over the sink to spit out the toothpaste and rinse out his mouth.

“Alright. I’ll go.”

Tenzou grins, and tries to hide the smugness that curves around the edges. “Wear something nice,” he says and reaches to pat his senpai’s shoulder, as if to say, _good man_.

Everyone has spent the past three months trying to get Kakashi to make a move on Iruka ever since his crush became painfully obvious. Hopefully, all he needs now is a nice, strong alcohol-induced nudge to take a step in the younger teacher’s direction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you guys think will happen? Will Kakashi finally will make a move on Iruka? Will Iruka figure out that Kakashi has a crush on him? Are you guys enjoying this fic? Let us know in the comments. :)


	4. Chapter 4

When Kakashi had agreed to show up and join them for their teacher’s gathering at the local bar without so much of a fight, Tenzou knew that he would not show up at their meeting point. Everyone had already gathered at the inn’s lobby, dressed and ready to head out and the only one missing was Kakashi. They would have to go in two groups, and when half an hour passed and there was still no Kakashi in sight, Tenzou knew that the man was probably going through some mental crisis. Because Iruka had agreed to go too. And while Iruka was not with them at the meeting point and simply said that he would follow a bit later because he had wanted to make sure that the kids were in bed and accounted for, the thought of Iruka in a club, casually dressed for the evening, probably flushed from a few drinks, must have sent Kakashi’s brain running to the hills.

Tenzou has had enough of Kakashi’s chickening out. Tenzou had thought that Kakashi would have warmed to the idea of being with Iruka by now, especially since they shared a room. But apparently, Tenzou’s foresight seemed to have been too cloudy. They had already tried calling Kakashi, and some even checked the inn’s surrounding area, including Kakashi’s own room, to find the missing teacher.

Nothing has changed.

“You guys go ahead,” Tenzou says. “I’ll find Kakashi-senpai.”

“Here.” Gai says, producing a bottle of whiskey from somewhere. “Use this.”

Tenzou eyes the bottle for a moment and wants to ask just _where_ Gai got it from but decides that he has wasted enough time trying to sort this mess up. He gives Gai and the rest of the accompanying staff a nod and heads for the first place he feels Kakashi might be hiding.

The roof.

And sure enough, like Tenzou suspected, there is Kakashi, leaning against the water tower. A small swell of pride fills Tenzou’s chest at the knowledge that he’d found him, but it deflates like a balloon as he approaches Kakashi and crosses his arms across his chest.

“Senpai, why are you hiding _now_?” Because Tenzou knows Kakashi. Granted, this kind of hiding was almost laughable, but to any common folk who were not trained the way he and Kakashi were, it would have been easy to miss Kakashi, with how he was hiding under the shadow of the water tower. One would have had to approach the water tower and be at least four feet away to know that Kakashi was even standing there in the first place. Even then, all Kakashi would have to do, if he really did not want to be found, is take a step to the left and then he would be completely obscured.

It would have been so easy to miss Kakashi. The door to the roof is at least ten feet away.

But Tenzou has known Kakashi for too long to miss him, and somehow, Tenzou always finds him even when Kakashi doesn’t want to be found.

Kakashi steps out of the shadow of the water tower, a tablet in his hand. The sun has already set, and with dusk heavy upon them, it’s impossible for Kakashi to read from his usual book. Tenzou glances at the tablet, completely unsurprised.

“I’m not hiding. Just taking a break from everyone,” Kakashi says as he shrugs lightly, giving a casual roll of his left shoulder. He’s completely not dressed for the night at all, despite having agreed to go to the party. In fact, he’s just wearing a grey t-shirt and a pair of dark denim jeans. He even has a pair of scuffed Converse sneakers on, the ones he’s most comfortable in. Certainly not the sort of thing you wear to a club. Tenzou frowns at the sight of him, because it’s rather apparent that Kakashi seems to have downright chickened out. Again.

The longer Tenzou looks at Kakashi, the longer he realizes how extremely tiring and annoying this thing has become. The irritation bubbles over and it is enough to make Tenzou bring the bottle of whiskey up to his mouth, unscrew the cap with his teeth and take a generous swig, not once taking his gaze off Kakashi. Tenzou has to remind himself sometimes that this is not a warzone, this is not a special ops mission, exfiltration, or even a skirmish. This is a high school, with kids and civilians, the very kind of people that men like himself and Kakashi had pledged their lives to protect. Other than maybe the fact that he and Kakashi had military training and fought in war zones, there is nothing different between them and someone like Iruka; they all bleed the same way.

It's like a soldier being _afraid_ of a moth.

It's enough to _infuriate_ Tenzou.

"Senpai." Tenzou says very slowly and takes another swig from the bottle then hands it over to Kakashi, a little forceful. If Tenzou pushed a little more, he would have been shoving the bottle at Kakashi's chest. "You are many things, but a coward is not one of them. _What_ the fuck is wrong with you?"

Kakashi takes the bottle with his free hand, a frown etched between his silver brows as he just gives Tenzou a long, hard look before turning away, tension wound tight in his body. He doesn’t lift the bottle to his mouth, and instead just holds onto it.  It’s certainly apparent from his body language that he doesn’t want to have this conversation. Kakashi turns away from Tenzou, moving towards the ledge of the roof, which looks over the expansive grounds of the ryokan.

Of course, he even has the gall to open his mouth and dismiss Tenzou with, “It’s really none of your busi--”  

Kakashi doesn’t get to finish the sentence. Doesn’t get to tell Tenzou that it isn’t any of his business. Tenzou cuts him off, words sharp.

"If I put a bullet through Iruka's head right now, you know what's gonna happen? He's going to drop to the ground and not get back up. Just like you. Just like me. If I slit his wrist open, he's going to bleed red, just like you, just like me. If I slice his head off, what do you think is going to happen? His head is going to fucking roll and rest of him will twitch for a few seconds. His heart will beat for a few more seconds, and then he's dead. Just like you. Just like me.” Tenzou finds himself barking out the words, the way he would with new recruits. “There is _nothing_ remotely different between Umino Iruka and yourself and guess what, me and the rest of our colleagues or former squad members! _Nothing!"_

He grabs the bottle from Kakashi's hand and takes another sip, holding up a hand and giving Kakashi the darkest glare that shows just about how much he's had it.  "The _only_ difference between you and me and Umino Iruka is that you and I _served_ in the _military._ Other than that, we are all made of the same stuff, the same things will kill us, we're all educated professionals. We eat, we shit, we fuck the same way. So don't give me bullshit that Umino Iruka is fucking _different_. That he's _special._ He's not. He's a _man,_ like _you_ and _me_. And deep down, you _know_ it. You are simply attracted to him so _man the fuck up_ and go do _something_ about it. Are you going to change or not?"

Tenzou can hear the blood roar in his ears because it is downright insulting to see the man he respects so much, the man he practically cares for like a brother, behave this way. When he has a chance to have something neither of them ever had and Kakashi is just allowing it to slip through his fingers.

(Not that Tenzou would even know what family even means to begin with.)

"Make a decision right now. Because if you're not going to, I will." Tenzou's words are eerily calm, easy but heavy with the weight of his intention. "If you won't try to be with him, I will.”

There’s a click of sound as Kakashi sets his tablet down on the ledge. Tenzou doesn’t even see it coming, what happens next -- how quickly Kakashi moves. It’s been so long since he’s seen him in action, since they left the battlefields behind them, but Kakashi is just as fast as he was back then. Before Tenzou even realizes what’s happening, Kakashi’s got him by the front of his shirt and pain explodes along the side of his face when Kakashi decks him, sending him down onto the ground, and the bottle of whiskey with him. Tenzou sees stars swimming at the corners of his vision. Kakashi’s speed was apparently not the only thing he’s managed to maintain over the years. He still hits strong enough to take a man down with a single swing. So yeah, maybe he deserved that a little, but shit, did Kakashi have to be so _rough_?  

Tenzou looks up and sees Kakashi approaching, and when his eyes travel up to his senpai’s face, he can see just how _furious_ he is. His eyes blaze with an intensity Tenzou hasn’t seen in _ages_ , and a part of him almost thinks it’s good it’s there, that fire. Kakashi needs it.

“You’re out of line, Tenzou,” Kakashi says, his voice harsh. And then he turns, picks up that damn tablet, and starts to walk away. Just like that.  

But there is something about all this, about just how ironic it is that Kakashi will choose to actually not do anything after Tenzou had gone on a gamble and said the things he knew were certainly out of line.

"What are you going to do about it?" Tenzou asks with a condescending laugh, standing up and reaching up to wipe off the slightly bleeding corner of his mouth with the back of his hand as checks if his clothing for the evening requires replacing. "Probably nothing, huh? I figured. Whenever it matters to you, you never do anything. Don't you at least want to try things differently this time? Doesn't it even bother you _at all_?"

Kakashi pauses in his step then, and for a moment, Tenzou just stares at his back. At the tension in his shoulders. At the barely contained tremble in his fist that he tries to hide. It almost seems like he might even say something back. Tenzou _wants_ him to say something, anything. To actually _show_ that it matters to him, when it’s so obvious that it matters _too much._ And really, that’s the problem -- that it matters at all. Kakashi doesn’t know what to do with himself when it actually matters to him, because he’s too damn scared of what it means for something like this to matter. He’d spent too many years making sure that anytime he found anyone remotely interesting or remotely attractive who he might want to take home, that it wouldn’t matter to him in the end. That they would be just another notch in his bedpost, another stranger, another one night stand.

Tenzou’s not sure how many one night stands Kakashi’s had, or how many mutually beneficial relationships he’s gotten himself into with someone who knew where the lines were drawn, but it sure as hell wouldn’t be just another one night stand or another friends-with-benefits situation with Iruka if Kakashi manages to take him to bed. It’d be something else entirely. Something Kakashi has never, ever experienced. And _that_ scares the shit out of Kakashi. That much, Tenzou knows beyond a shadow of a doubt.

Kakashi relies on routine, on always knowing what will always happen next. But emotional attachments and a relationship that actually matters to him is something entirely new. Something he can’t predict. And Tenzou knows that the uncertainty that comes with it is precisely what he’s running away from, along with whatever it is he feels for Iruka that is so intense, it completely changes Kakashi into someone Tenzou barely even recognizes sometimes.

But the silhouette Kakashi cuts in the night, Tenzou recognizes. He recognizes the tension in that closed-up fist, the tightness of Kakashi’s shoulders. He knows, without even seeing his senpai’s face, that Kakashi is clenching his teeth, that his nostrils are flaring from the slow, controlled breaths he takes under his mask. Just like he knows that Kakashi isn’t going to say anything at all.  

Instead, Kakashi just walks forward, heading straight for the rooftop door. And Tenzou knows what will happen after this. He knows that Kakashi will retreat into himself, bury his nose in his books, segregate himself from the rest of the crowd and everything that he must so desperately want, but won't ever take for himself. And maybe his attitude towards Iruka will shift, maybe he won't stammer and lose his shit half the time when he's around Iruka. _Maybe._

Tenzou moves to grab Kakashi by the shoulders to stop him, initially with the intention to probably spin him around, shake some sense into him, to tell him to stop being a little chicken shit. _Because you're better than this, you can do this, you deserve more than what you have._ Instead, Tenzou ends up just moving to stand in front of him, keeping his hands on both of Kakashi's shoulders, fingers curling against the tense curve, where he holds him in place and looks him in the eye. Kakashi could fight him off at anytime, could neutralize him in at least fifteen different ways, and Tenzou knows this, but he takes the chance anyway.

Tenzou can feel the way Kakashi tenses under his hands. He knows that his senpai is considering all the different ways to escape from this. But Tenzou isn’t going to just let him go that easily.  

"Senpai. Please come. And try. Just this _once_." Tenzou says, softly. "Iruka is a good guy." Those hands come up to surround Kakashi’s face, to force his senpai to _look_ at him, knowing that the intimacy of the gesture would be one of the only things that could get Kakashi to _maybe_ relax a little. "You have _nothing_ to _lose_."

Tenzou watches as Kakashi’s brows gather in a frown, and he reads the hesitation in his senpai’s eyes just before Kakashi’s gaze slides to the side. He knows from his expression, and from the way the tension in his body shifts from anger to mild discomfort that Kakashi has been swayed by his words and by his actions. No matter how out of line Tenzou might have been, and no matter how angry Kakashi was even just _seconds_ ago, they both know Tenzou is right.

Kakashi _doesn’t_ have anything to lose. He doesn’t even have Iruka to begin with. Not even as a friend.

“What if he doesn’t want me?” Kakashi asks after a moment, his voice quiet. He doesn’t look at Tenzou when he asks it, but the question is a serious one. Tenzou can tell that Kakashi is seriously considering it, the prospect of actually going after what he really wants. But the thought of opening himself up like that, of leaving himself vulnerable, is terrifying. And if there is anything that Kakashi avoids, it’s vulnerability.

Tenzou knows this a little too well.

And indeed, what if Iruka ends up not liking him at all? What if Iruka's behaviour is an act? While everything in Tenzou's training tells him that it isn't an act, that Iruka is genuinely a nice guy, that he's a boy scout, as goody-two-shoesy as they come, he also knows that their training has taught them not to trust easily. That's the crux of the problem for men like them, to trust outside their own squad members, outside of what they know.

(Not that Tenzou trusts anyone but Kakashi.)

But if Kakashi doesn’t give this a shot, he might never know one way or another.

"What if he does?" Tenzou asks, and Kakashi’s eyes track back to him, in quiet consideration. And it’s almost as though Kakashi never actually even thought about that possibility, that maybe Iruka might actually want him, too. That maybe, Iruka might be attracted to him, in return. Kakashi had spent so much time convincing himself that there was no way Iruka would _ever_ be interested in someone like him that he never even considered that there was any other option.

And now that Tenzou has put it right there in front of him, he can see something changing in Kakashi’s eyes, storm clouds lifting off the surface of a lake.

Tenzou recognizes it for what it is -- a faint glimmer of hope.

Kakashi sighs then, the tension going out of his shoulders completely as they slump with something like resignation. “Alright,” he finally concedes. “But I’m going to need a drink.” Kakashi pauses, then corrects himself. “A lot of drinks. You’re buying.” Kakashi pats the side of Tenzou’s face and then brushes his hands off of him. Their shoulders brush as Kakashi passes, this time, heading back onto the roof to bend down and pick up the whiskey bottle that’d fallen earlier. He picks it up to examine its contents -- there’s still at least a good quarter inside of the stuff.

“If things don’t go well tonight, I’m going to make you regret this,” Kakashi threatens him as he raises the bottle, lifts up the bottom edge of his mask, and takes a long swig.

And Tenzou just _grins._ “Somehow, I doubt that, Senpai.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise! Tenzou and Kakashi got in a big fight over this! We kind of didn't expect this to happen, it sort of just did. What do you guys think will happen next? Will Kakashi finally work up the (liquid) courage to make the moves on Iruka, finally? Will he chicken out again? Stay tuned to see what happens next... We're also super grateful for all your lovely comments! Thanks so much for all the encouragement. We love hearing your feedback, and your thoughts on whether you're enjoying it. Be sure to let us know your thoughts in the comments below if you get a chance. ^_^


	5. Chapter 5

This is an astronomically terrible idea.

Kakashi doesn’t know how he allowed Tenzou to talk him into this. He’s absolutely certain that it’s going to end in failure, and he’s going to probably make a huge ass of himself, especially now that he’s started drinking. It’s no secret to anyone that once you get a few drinks into Hatake Kakashi, he loosens up in a way that usually results in either taking someone home or getting a drink dumped on him at the bar. He doesn’t know why he thought for even a moment that this was a good idea, when Iruka has never once expressed any sort of interest in him whatsoever.

And yet, here he is, standing in the middle of a line that’s far too well dressed for its own good, nervously eyeing the bouncer that’s checking the IDs of all the young girls (and young men) that are queuing to get into the bar, which is really more of a _club_ than a bar, even if the neon sign above the double doors read _TENGOKU BAR._

Tengoku. Heaven. Right.

For an establishment whose owners were corny enough to name it something like that, it’s surprising how well-dressed the crowd seems to be. And how young. Kakashi and Tenzou are at least a good eight years older than most of the would-be patrons. Kakashi’s just glad that he doesn’t look _too_ out of place. He hadn’t exactly expected to come to a club on this trip, and so he threw together some sort of decent outfit -- a grey t-shirt under a black blazer and a pair of dark charcoal jeans. He’d swapped out sneakers for the one pair of black shoes he’d packed. A good thing he did, too, as the club clearly has a no sneakers policy. Luckily, he also had packed an alternate mask which just so happens to be black.

Even still, Kakashi feels remarkably out of place, especially when a few fancy cars pull up and a group of particularly fashionable men get out and toss the valet their key, skipping the line entirely as they say hi to the promoter who’s working the door. They’re rather flashy, these men, and they probably even have bottle service or something ridiculous like that.

Kakashi’s certain now that he doesn’t look nearly as cool as _half_ the people here. There might even be a sweat drop hanging over his head. And really, normally this sort of thing wouldn’t faze him at all, but tonight is very different. Tonight, he’s supposed to make a move on Iruka, or something, which is the whole point of this.

“Tenzou… are you sure this is really a good idea…” Kakashi  asks a bit nervously as they inch their way up the line.

“Of course.” Tenzou answers automatically, not seeming the least bit perturbed by the comings and goings of other people. He doesn’t even seem to notice the line at all, or just how unfashionable they are compared to all these other people. But then, _he_ isn’t about to put the moves on Iruka. In fact, Tenzou couldn’t look more bored. He’s even ignoring Kakashi to pull out his phone, most likely to inform the rest of their colleagues that they are in line. “We’ll get in eventually.”

“I wasn’t talking about the line,” Kakashi says a bit flatly.

“Neither was I.” Tenzou says with a big smile. “Stop worrying Senpai, you can’t chicken out now. We’re _here -”_ Something is wrong, because Tenzou’s eyes suddenly widen as he looks past Kakashi’s shoulder. _“_ Oh shit, Iruka is coming this way! Quick, smile.”

Of course, Kakashi panics and flushes under his mask because this is not at all the place for Iruka to show up! He is completely unprepared for this. He hasn’t even had enough drinks to properly say hi. _What is he even going to say._ Iruka’s probably going to get an even worse impression of him than he already has, and Kakashi will have ruined his chances before they even get in the door!

His heart couldn’t possibly race any faster.

Not so surreptitiously, Kakashi glances behind him, eyes sweeping for Iruka, only to discover that… there is no Iruka to be found. In fact, all that’s behind him is a line of well-dressed women and men. The group of girls immediately behind him catch the look on his face and giggle, whispering to each other. Probably assuming that Kakashi was checking them out.

Which he absolutely wasn’t.

Kakashi rolls his eyes and looks back at Tenzou, features flat.

“Very funny,” he says  rather dryly. He might be kind of buzzed from the whiskey he had drunk before coming to the club, but he’s not _nearly_ drunk enough to find a prank like that amusing, unlike his shit-for-brains kouhai, who laughs like it’s the funniest fucking thing in the world.  

“It’s still funny!” Tenzou snickers. If it weren’t for the fact that they were in public and the bouncer is standing _right there_ , Kakashi might’ve even smacked him upside the head for this.

“Ah, yes, torturing your senpai is so funny. I see how much respect my kouhai has for me.”  Kakashi says flatly as they move further up the line. Eventually, they make their way past the velvet ropes and into the interior of the club, which is pulsing with some sort of loud electronic dance music that Kakashi really does not particularly enjoy. He doesn’t even know why anyone listens to this sort of thing. Give him jazz or classic rock or even classical music over this shit they call music any day.

Tenzou doesn’t seem to sense his senpai’s displeasure, and just claps his hand on Kakashi’s shoulder, guiding him through the throng of dancers on the dance floor and up a few stairs to the bar, where all of their colleagues appear to be gathered. Kakashi’s pulse races as he looks through the crowd gathered at the bar, gaze falling on Gai, who clearly has been drinking for quite a while, is flushed a dark red and laughing boisterously with Ebisu over some terrible joke. Right next to them is Asuma, who is working on a beer, one arm thrown over Kurenai’s shoulders. And there are the rest of them -- Genma, Hayate, Raidou, Izumo, and even Kotetsu.

But Iruka doesn’t appear to be anywhere.

Apparently, by some strange stroke of luck, Kakashi had actually arrived earlier than the home economics teacher. Looking at the scene before him, at just how happily everyone is drinking, enjoying the music and each other’s company, Kakashi suddenly is convinced that this is the worst possible idea ever and that he really should extract himself from this situation before it turns into some sort of terrible, unsalvageable disaster. But before he could turn to go, Tenzou gets Genma’s attention, and of _course_ , Genma decides to cheer. As though the fact that Kakashi had actually turned up at all was something to cheer about.

Before Kakashi can try to escape, he suddenly finds himself with Gai’s arm around his shoulder. “Kakashi! My rival! You made it! Are you ready to fly on the wings of Youthful Love?”

Kakashi just looks a little green around the gills at the thought. He is absolutely not ready to fly on the wings of anything other than to get the hell out of this disaster waiting to happen. But clearly Genma had something far better in mind for him, as Kakashi suddenly finds himself with a shot glass in his hand. Judging by the color and smell, it’s probably tequila. Kakashi ends up taking the shot a little too fast, not even waiting to do the customary salt-lick and kanpai with everyone. He forgoes the lime entirely, and Genma raises an eyebrow, silently handing Kakashi a second shot. This time, when Kakashi doesn’t down it as quickly, Genma grins in a way that Kakashi just _knows_ is going to lead to something he really does not want.

“Alright guys, it’s time to get serious. Technically this is Kakashi’s first ever -- possibly official -- date with Iruka-sensei. How about that.” Genma yells above the music, raising his shot glass in Kakashi’s direction. All of the teachers hoot and clap enthusiastically, particularly Gai, who apparently is so moved by the speech that he’s already starting to cry his tears of youth. “So, do you know how to dance, Kakashi? You know you have to ask him to dance. Like that.” Genma points at some of the dancers on the dancefloor, who are practically dry humping each other.

Kakashi, who had been turning increasingly red under his mask, makes the mistake of following the path of Genma’s hand, to the dancers who are writhing against each other, and he sort of just goes very pale at the sight of that. He’s never really been one to dance, and it’s not so much that he doesn’t know how to -- or that he’s bad at it or anything along those lines -- it’s more the crowded space that make it very uncomfortable for him. Even when he’s drunk, it’s not the sort of thing he usually indulges in. The thought dancing with Iruka -- and like _that_ \-- Kakashi’s somehow turned into yet another wobbling paper cut out in the middle of the bar.

Which clearly means he needs more drinks.

There is a collective laugh and a loud agreement for _MORE DRINKS_. So they order many more drinks. Mostly of the hard liquor variety.

A few (or several) shots later, Gai and Ebisu have left the bar to have a dance competition, along with Kurenai and Asuma, leaving Genma to handle the ship and he is being a good friend. By that definition, he’s being encouraging by buying an entire _bottle_ of whiskey and refilling Kakashi’s cup every time he gets to the bottom.

Kakashi’s not entirely sure how many drinks he’s had, but he does know that he feels quite a lot better about the prospect of actually making a move on Iruka. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knows that it’s the alcohol giving him courage and that he’s probably a little drunk. Really, he should slow down.

“So, do you see him yet?” Genma asks as Tenzou tries to get the bartender’s attention. Kakashi glances over his shoulder at the dance floor, eyes tracking over to the door, then back again. It’s a quick sweep, but Iruka is nowhere to be seen.

“I’m starting to think he’s not coming.” Kakashi says as Genma refills his glass, and he takes a sip, then waves a finger in Genma’s face. “You and Tenzou are conspiring against me. You exploited my weakness just to get me drunk.”

“Oh he’s coming,” Genma sounds sure, or... maybe he’s just trying to sound sure. Kakashi doesn’t really know, and he’s probably a little too buzzed to properly assess, anyway. “You know how he is. Always fussing about the kids. Something might have popped up and he’s just late. He might be here already. Dancing with a stranger you know?”

“He’s not the type to do that.” Kakashi immediately counters back as he starts to work on his drink, the alcohol making him feel warm all over. Somewhat drunkenly, he wonders just what he’s going to do with himself if Iruka ends up not showing up. He’s put so much effort into coming out, even putting up with this _terrible_ dance music.

The prospect of going back empty handed isn’t particularly fun.

He gives Genma a pointed look as his friend refills his glass.  “If he doesn’t show up, you owe me a lap dance.”

“Anytime~” There’s a grin on Genma’s face as he nudges Kakashi’s fresh drink in his direction. “Come on, come on, what’s the worse that could happen? If he doesn’t show up, well…” he makes a bit of a show of checking Kakashi out, eyes giving him a once over, dragging up and down the lines of his body. It gives Kakashi a rather nice burst of confidence. “His loss.”

The alcohol must really be working, because Kakashi’s hand idly slides up Genma’s thigh, giving it a bit of a squeeze like he’s done many times before on nights out when he’s had enough drinks to feel relaxed enough to shamelessly flirt with his friend, knowing nothing would come of it anyway. And apparently, Genma doesn’t seem to mind it either, because there’s a smirk growing on his face. The smirk, however, fades to a confused look as Genma peers over the rim of his glass at the dance floor.  

“Is that....?”

Kakashi follows Genma’s gaze over to the dance floor, which is packed with throngs of gyrating, grinding bodies undulating to the beat of the music.

And there, in the middle of the dance floor, is Iruka.

Kakashi watches in shock as his eyes trail over the way Iruka’s hips sway to the music, body a fluid wave of motion. His face is flushed from alcohol and dancing, and his hair is in disarray -- not at all like the usual tight ponytail it’s usually gathered into. Flyaway strands float about his face, a few sticking to his damp temple, where beads of sweat have formed from how vigorously he’s been enjoying himself on the dance floor. He’s even a little out of breath, as far as Kakashi can tell, by the way his lips are parted, and he’s _smiling_ at someone, laughing at a joke, leaning into--

It’s another man.

Kakashi doesn’t recognize the man, he must be a regular club patron; but from what he can tell, the man is rather well dressed and tall. Dark hair, somewhat muscular, but not overly so. From his vantage point, Kakashi can’t really make out his face and can’t tell whether or not he’s attractive at all. If he’s even a threat. If Kakashi should go over there and insert himself between them because he really doesn’t like the idea of Iruka dancing with another man. (Nevermind the fact that just a moment ago his hand was on Genma’s thigh, but that had more to do with the alcohol and Kakashi didn’t really mean any of it anyway.)

But there’s suddenly thunder in his chest, a million hummingbirds flapping their wings inside his rib cage.  

He needs another drink.

Maybe a few more drinks.

Genma seems to sense this, because he orders Kakashi a few more shots of whiskey, which Kakashi downs in quick succession just as Tenzou finds his way over and takes up residence at the bar next to Kakashi, shoulders brushing. Apparently, he’s noticed the way Kakashi has been staring at the dance floor, and managed to put two and two together.  “I gotta ask…” he begins as he takes a swig from the bottle of beer he’s been nursing. “What’s your move, exactly? You are seriously not going to go and well, do _that_ are you? I mean it’s not a bad idea…”

By _that_ Tenzou probably means go over there and dance with Iruka.

“It’s a terrible idea.” Kakashi can’t stop watching the way Iruka’s _hips_ move and it’s really far too distracting, and he thinks his heart must be going a million miles an hour.  No, going over to Iruka and attempting to dance would probably not be the best move. Kakashi wouldn’t be relaxed, and it would most likely show, no matter how much courage the alcohol gives him.  “I think I’ll just wait here. He’ll come over eventually.”

“Yeah, okay, then what?” Tenzou asks. “He comes over to the bar, thirsty -- then?”

Kakashi just quirks a brow as he looks at Tenzou, tilting his head slightly. There’s a smirk curled under his mask and though Tenzou can’t see it, Kakashi knows that his kouhai knows it’s there from the look in his eyes. “Tenzou, you’re acting like I don’t know how to pick someone up at the bar.”  Now that he’s had a few more shots of whiskey, Kakashi’s feeling more on top of his game, a little less nervous about the prospect of hitting on Iruka. He reaches an arm out and pats his kouhai’s shoulder.  “Stop worrying so much. You’re not the one trying to get laid.”  

But despite his words, Kakashi knows it’s a lot more than just getting laid. It does help him a bit to believe that’s all it is though. Maybe if he stopped seeing Iruka as someone so unapproachable, but instead as just anyone else he might go home with, it’d be somehow easier. (Except Iruka isn’t just anyone else, and despite the shit that Tenzou had to say about how they are all the same, Iruka _is_ special. To Kakashi, anyway.)  

His bravado owns him a rather unconvinced look from Tenzou. “To be fair, it’s very hard to believe you right _now_.”

But Kakashi doesn’t particularly care if Tenzou believes him. He just needs Tenzou to not try to convince him to go over there and dance with Iruka, who is really letting his hips sway to the music now. Kakashi is impossibly distracted by the way Iruka’s shirt rides up when he lifts up his arms above his head -- that little strip of skin that’s revealed just above the waistband of his pants.

Apparently Tenzou noticed it too. Or at least, he noticed the way Kakashi is staring at Iruka. “He can dance, I give you that.” Tenzou actually looks fairly uncomfortable watching Iruka dance the way he does. “I personally, had no idea, he had all _that_ in him. He normally seems…. very put together. And yet… Do you want another drink?”

“I could use a beer.” Kakashi admits, finally tearing his eyes away from Iruka to glance at Tenzou. It’s then that he suddenly realizes that Tenzou has somehow managed to foist off all the responsibility of buying him drinks to Genma, which is not at all how this evening should have gone.  “You know… you were supposed to buy me drinks, but Genma ended up paying for them all.”

“I’ll buy you drinks _after_ you actually do something with--” Tenzou makes a hand gesture towards Iruka’s general direction. “That is if you’re still going to. I know you know how to pick up people from a bar. But this, hmmm…”  Tenzou turns and asks for two beers.  “Besides, if Genma wants to buy, I’m not gonna say no~”

Kakashi claps his hand over Tenzou’s shoulder and leans in. “I changed my mind. You owe me dinner. _Multiple_ dinners.”  As penance for all the teasing and torture Tenzou has put him through.

“Don’t push your luck, senpai. If you can score, I’ll buy you dinner for a week. No score, no dinners.”  The beer comes and Tenzou hands it over to Kakashi. “Take it or leave it.”

“ _Two_ weeks.” Kakashi negotiates as he takes the beer.

“One and a half --” Tenzou’s hand backhands Kakashi’s by the arm, without any sort of real subtlety, because Iruka is moving towards the bar.  “-- shit, he’s seriously coming! Shit! Senpai! Are you ready?!”

Maybe it’s all the alcohol he’s had. It’s definitely all the alcohol, because Kakashi is surprisingly calm and more or less manages to ignore Tenzou’s mild panic attack over the idea of Kakashi actually hitting on Iruka. He rather calmly watches Iruka approach the bar and lean against it to try and get the bartender’s attention, then turns his attention back to Tenzou, who is actually watching Iruka almost as intensely as Kakashi should be.

“Two weeks.” He says again, not budging on the wager. He then lifts the beer up and takes a swig for good measure.

Tenzou just gives Kakashi a rather dismissive gesture, and then starts to wave at Kakashi in the direction of Iruka. As though Kakashi even needs any more encouragement. He even turns to grab Genma away from the pretty thing he had been immersed in chatting up, momentarily annoying the man, but once Genma’s attention focuses on exactly the momentous event that is about to _finally_ go down, Genma is all cheers and silently hooting along with Tenzou, much to Kakashi’s somewhat drunken consternation. They are trying not to be so obvious, lest Iruka sees them, but they’re doing a pretty terrible job.

(Somewhere in the back of Kakashi’s mind, he’s starting to reconsider whether this is really a good idea.)

Somehow, and Kakashi really doesn’t know how, but he’s somehow managed to make it straight over to Iruka, who is leaning against the bar and trying to get the bartender’s attention. Kakashi’s heart is beating faster than it’s ever beat in his entire life, but somehow, it doesn’t seem to be such a terrible thing when everything feels warm and woozy and when Iruka’s _right there_. He wastes no time letting his hand settle on Iruka’s lower back as he leans in close enough for Iruka to hear him, which results in his nose lightly brushing against Iruka’s ear.

“Let me buy you a drink,” Kakashi murmurs, his voice a sultry purr.

Iruka gives a laugh and makes a sound that is a cross between unbelievable and amused and are-you-for-real, speaks as he rolls his eyes and turns. “At least ask for my name first and introduce yourse--” The words die in his mouth as Iruka just _stares_ in complete shock at him. “ _Kakashi-sensei?!_ ”

And suddenly, he’s jerking back, recoiling physically as though he can’t believe Kakashi really just did what he did. And normally, that type of a reaction would send Kakashi flushing a dark red and running away, but with the amount of liquid courage in his blood, he somehow just finds it kind of cute that Iruka is being shy. In fact, he just quirks a brow at the younger teacher and sidles up against him at the bar with what Tenzou has called his most charming expression.  “I hope that’s not a no.”

“No, no, of course not. I would love a drink, I’m quite thirsty... but....”  Iruka sort of backs up against the bar, having nowhere to go at such a crowded place. Clearly, Iruka is not used to this. It is catching him completely off guard.  “Thank you, I would love a drink.” He says with a smile, flushing a bit. Kakashi can see the way Iruka’s eyes trail up and down the length of his body, as though it’s the first time he’s really seeing him. Or maybe it’s just that he’s just never seen him quite like this -- relaxed, body slouched almost lazily, a smirk hiding underneath his mask.

And clearly it’s working, because Iruka actually agreed to let him buy a drink.

(Normally, Kakashi would probably be having a small heart attack over the idea of buying Iruka-sensei a drink, but with the amount of alcohol swimming in his blood, he’s suddenly discovered that there’s nothing terrifying about the prospect of buying Iruka a drink at all.)

“I was hoping you would say that,” Kakashi says and leans past Iruka to catch the bartender’s attention, brushing against him in the process. Iruka is so _warm_ , and Kakashi can feel the slight dampness of sweat drying on his skin from his earlier gyrations on the dance floor.  “Let me guess -- something sweet and fruity.” He guesses with a slight tilt of his head, and then watches as Iruka’s cheeks heat up, darkening to a lovely red. And he’s even sort of wiggling a little out of the way, as though Kakashi’s close proximity is a little too much for him, which Kakashi just takes as an invitation to lean in a little more. Completely accidentally, of course.

“Y-Yeah. Uhm... sure. A cold beer is just fine... uhmm…” Iruka stammers out, eyes round with surprise as he stares at Kakashi like he’s a total stranger.

“Just a beer? Are you sure?” Kakashi quirks a brow slightly and watches as Iruka turns an even darker shade of red.

“Uhmm… Surprise me?” The younger teacher shrugs helplessly with a smile, and Kakashi smirks under his mask, ordering a sweet, fruity drink with a strong kick but not overwhelmingly strong tasting. And two shots of Frangelico -- a sweet, spicy liqueur. The bartender serves up the shots first, then gets to working on the drink. Kakashi hands Iruka the shot, and picks up his own. Normally, he wouldn’t drink something this sweet, but he knows how much of a sweet tooth Iruka is, and really, one more shot is about all he can do now.

“Frangelico.” He says, as to what is in the contents of the shot. “You’ll like it. It’s sweet.” And doesn’t burn the way other spirits do. Instead, it leaves one feeling... rather warm.  

“Kanpai!” Iruka clinks his shot glass against Kakashi’s and throws it back as Kakashi does the same, trying his best not to make a face at the cloying sweetness. Kakashi watches as Iruka blinks in pleasant surprise, as the tiny pink tip of his tongue darts out to lick his lips, chasing after the sweetness. He smiles a bit, almost shyly, still blushing. “You’re right. I do like it…” he admits and then his eyes seem to settle on the lower half of Kakashi’s face, which is covered by the mask. “How’s your face and chest?”

“I’m fine, don’t worry.” Kakashi says with a smile. “You took good care of me this morning~”

Maybe it’s something Kakashi said or the way he said it, because Iruka’s suddenly turning an even darker shade of red. This is really quite interesting, Kakashi somewhat drunkenly thinks, because somehow their positions have reversed. Isn’t he the one who’s supposed to be blushing different shades of red? And yet, here they are, having a drink or two, and Iruka’s the one doing all the blushing. He’s even stammering a little as he says, “Well, it’s the least I could do... after all I did... cause the... problem and…” Iruka suddenly looks a little flustered. “I wasn’t expecting you to come here.”

“I wasn’t originally planning on coming. This kind of thing isn’t exactly my scene,” Kakashi nods to the crowd, just as Iruka’s fruity-but-strong drink is delivered. It even has a small umbrella and an orange on the rim. Very tropical.

“Oh?” Iruka thanks the bartender and picks up the glass, studying its contents. Iruka plucks out the umbrella and takes a sip, and Kakashi can tell from the expression on his face that he really likes the drink Kakashi’d ordered for him. “What changed your mind then?”

This is the moment Kakashi’s been waiting for, and it’s odd, how in the midst of the storm itself, when he should be at his most terrified, his most uncertain, his most panicked, all he feels is a rather warm sense of calm. Maybe it’s the alcohol or maybe it’s the way Iruka’s blushing and stammering, body language suggesting that he wants this as much as Kakashi.  And maybe it’s just the haze of alcohol that’s making him see it that way, read the lines of Iruka’s body, his behavior, as attraction for him, or maybe it’s something else entirely, but, Kakashi just ends up pinning Iruka with a _look._

Iruka wants to know what changed his mind, and why he’s here.

“You.” Kakashi says rather bluntly, and for a moment Iruka says nothing at all, stunned silent as the noise of the club drowns out the space between them. It takes several seconds before he blinks, and _downs_ the entire cocktail in one go before slowly setting the glass down, blinks the kick away. And then, he asks with the _prettiest_ blush, “Are you seriously hitting on me right now?”

“Well, you don’t seem to dislike it.”  Kakashi points out. Judging by the way Iruka looks at him, and that prominent blush -- he thinks it’s working.

“Honestly?” Iruka opens his mouth to give an answer and instead blinks and turns to look at the bartender. Asks for two -- no, no make that _three_ straight shots (and please _make it super quick)_. “Hold that thought.” Iruka says as he downs, one, two, three shots.

“Ah, I hope you don’t need to be drunk to find me attractive.” Kakashi murmurs, leaning in towards Iruka, nose brushing against his ear once more, a hand sliding down Iruka’s back.

“Hah, no, you’re pretty hot even without the alcohol.” Iruka turns to look at Kakashi for a long while, elbows remaining on the bar, eyes roaming all over Kakashi. And then, with a bit of a head tilt, “Are you going to ask me to dance, Kakashi-sensei?”

“I was thinking of asking you if you’d like to go back. But... would you rather I ask you to dance instead?” Kakashi asks, leaning in to frame Iruka’s body with his hands, curling over the edge of the bar. He thinks he’d very much like to kiss him right about now. And there’s a good chance that Iruka might even let him.

“I wasn’t referring to the dance floor,” Iruka whispers. But then he blinks and pushes Kakashi back, one hand splaying across his chest as the blush suddenly darkens his cheeks to a crimson, brushing all the way down his neck to his chest. And suddenly, Iruka is shy, stammering, completely flustered again.  “A-Ah, what am I saying -- _what are you saying?”_

“I’m saying I want you.” Kakashi says without skipping a beat, leaning back in towards Iruka, an arm sliding around his waist as he tugs him away from the bar and flush against his body, his breath humid and warm through the thin material of his mask as he murmurs into his ear. “I’ve wanted you since the first time I saw you.”

(Kakashi would make the author of _Icha Icha Paradise_ very proud.)

He watches as Iruka just stares at him with a sort of quiet shock that fades into some sort of acceptance, and then darkens into something like desire, complete with flaming cheeks.  “You’re telling me this in the middle of a dance club! That’s not helping your favor, do you realize that! Whatever happened to asking one out to a date first or --” Iruka makes a frustrated noise and just plants a hand on Kakashi’s wrist, grabs it, and drags him _out_ of the club.

Neither of the men hear the cheer that breaks out behind them, as the entire collective staff of Konoha High start cheering and hollering loudly.

Almost immediately, the bet begins with Genma going, “Fifty says Iruka can’t walk tomorrow.”

And Tenzou says, “A hundred on Senpai being miserable.”

Gai places the biggest bet on Youthful Passionate Love and Happily Ever Afters.

While Ebisu sort of says, “A hundred on Kakashi being sodomized.”

Which just makes everyone _laugh_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, it finally happened! Kakashi made a move on Iruka! Woohoo! Thanks to some liquid courage, Kakashi's back to his cool, hip, suave self... Let's see if he manages to maintain his cool. What will happen next? Stay tuned! Thanks so much for all your support and the lovely comments you've been giving us. We really appreciate it! 
> 
> If you guys like _Comedy of Errors_ , be sure to check out our more serious fic, [Of Fire and Sand](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4718096), an AU set thousands of years before the start of _Naruto_ , featuring the first incarnation of Kakashi and Iruka. (Since reincarnation is a thing!) It's a long form, slow burn fic and very different from this one, but we hope you guys are willing to give it a shot, too! :)


	6. Chapter 6

“You’re telling me you’ve never been picked up at a club before?”

Maybe this isn’t the kind of question Kakashi should ask as he’s being dragged out into the warm night air, ears still ringing from the pounding bass of the club they’d just left. He’s warm with the alcohol that burns in his belly and is so caught up with the feeling of how Iruka’s hand fits in his own that he hadn’t really been thinking of what was coming out of his mouth. He supposes it doesn’t matter very much, considering the way Iruka keeps tugging at him, as though he can’t wait to get him somewhere private, and _fast_.

(Kakashi would very much like to go somewhere very private with Iruka.)

“No, I’ve had my fair share of being picked up before just not by _Hatake Kakashi_ ,” Iruka huffs out and drags Kakashi further from the club. Far enough away so that their conversation can’t be really overheard, not that Kakashi would care very much either way, considering his present state of inebriation. Iruka's cheeks are flushed when he suddenly comes to an abrupt halt and whirls on his heel, releasing his hold on Kakashi’s hand (which Kakashi mourns, because Iruka’s hand was very soft and very nice to hold) and then just _looks_ at him.

Kakashi blinks for a moment, and he can swear he can feel a flush starting to form under his mask. Iruka is looking at him so intensely, as though he’s trying very hard to think of what else he should say. He opens his mouth, then closes it. Opens it again and Kakashi can swear that’s definitely a flush forming on his face, even though he only has the meager yellow light of the street lamps to figure that out. He doesn’t get a chance to stare too long, because Iruka whirls and suddenly starts to walk away from him very fast.

Kakashi realizes that if he lets Iruka go now, he’s probably never going to get this chance again. 

And maybe it’s the alcohol, or maybe it’s the adrenaline, but he finds his body moving before he can even think, reaching out to Iruka, catching his hand. Anything to get him to stop. Anything so he doesn’t walk away.

Much to his great relief, Iruka actually pauses and doesn’t pull his hand out of Kakashi’s grip.

“I just couldn’t find the right time,” Kakashi finally says and gives Iruka’s hand a little pull. The gesture must have worked somehow, because Iruka turns around to face him with a slightly conflicted look in his eyes. “And every time I look at you, I just..”

For a literature teacher, it’s rather ironic that Kakashi doesn’t have any of the right words. They die off somewhere in the space between his brain and his mouth.

“You don’t even _know_ me.” Iruka says like it’s a fact and then shakes his head. And before Kakashi even realizes what’s happening, there are warm hands on the sides of his face and he suddenly realizes that Iruka is kissing him. He can feel the warm pressure of his lips through the flimsy layer of mask, which smooshes against his mouth as Iruka tries to mold their mouths together a little better. His heart thunders as it goes to a roar in his ears, arousal rushing through his body as he slowly starts to respond to the kiss.

His mouth moves slowly against Iruka’s through the layer of fabric, hesitantly, the kisses growing bolder, rougher, hungrier, until the fabric between them is sopping wet. Kakashi reaches a hand up to yank down the mask to his chin and winds an arm around Iruka’s waist as he draws him in, lips crashing down upon him. His tongue flicks against the seam of Iruka’s mouth, and the younger teacher gasps against him as he molds their bodies together, then parts his lips to let Kakashi’s tongue access to his mouth.

Kakashi’s mind reels. A part of him wonders if he must have had too much to drink and passed out. He must be dreaming this up, because in no reality would he be standing outside with Iruka-sensei in his arms gasping into his mouth as they kiss.

Their tongues brush together and Kakashi groans at the sensation, the sweet taste of Iruka suddenly in his mouth.

The kiss breaks, and Kakashi finds that he’s panting.

“How much have you had to drink?” Iruka asks, his fingers lightly pressing against Kakashi’s cheek.

“Mm... I’ve had a few.” Kakashi doesn’t want to admit just how much he’s had. As long as Iruka doesn’t stop kissing him, as long as this doesn’t stop, he’ll say whatever Iruka wants to hear him say, so long as he lets Kakashi kiss him again. He leans in to kiss him once more with a hand sliding into his hair as his mouth descends, and Iruka makes a slight sound of protest as his hands come up between them and pushes at Kakashi to break the kiss again.

“Not here. Let’s go back,” Iruka whispers, and everything in Kakashi’s body pulses a hot, silent _yes_.

The walk back to the ryokan is practically agonizing, the tension between the two teachers drawn tight as a live a wire. Kakashi almost thinks they aren’t going to make, half out of his mind with desire for the younger teacher. But somehow, they manage to return fast enough, and no sooner does the door to their room close behind them, does Kakashi press Iruka right up against the wall and crushes their mouths together in a rough, hungry kiss. He has wanted this for _months_ now, has _dreamed_ about it, fantasized about it and now--

Ah, Iruka feels even better than he thought he would. His mouth is soft and pliant, and his body is so warm.

The gasp that leaves Iruka is throaty, and he hitches backwards even more against the wall as his hands start to push and yank and tug the jacket off Kakashi’s shoulders, whimpering in his throat that would have been words for _don’t waste time_. The kiss is hungry, hot, and filled with want and everything Kakashi could have ever asked for. And when he presses forward he can feel the bulge straining at the front of Iruka’s pants and realizes just how turned on the younger teacher is. It makes the primal part of him roar alive, and with a low growl at the back of his throat, Kakashi shoves a knee between Iruka’s legs, pushing his legs apart as his thigh presses right up against Iruka’s arousal, making the younger man gasp as his fingers tighten in Kakashi’s clothing, hips jerking roughly.

“You’re wearing too much clothing,” Kakashi rasps against Iruka’s mouth, as his hands begin to tug at the buttons of his shirt, mouth trailing over the edge of his chin as he licks a hot trail down the side of his throat. Iruka smells like cinnamon and oranges and something else. Something sweeter, like the warm sun sinking into skin in the mornings. Kakashi nuzzles his face right into the hollow of Iruka’s neck and inhales slowly, wanting to breathe him in forever.

“ _Kakashi_ …” Iruka whimpers softly as his hands fumble at Kakashi’s belt, and the way he moans when Kakashi’s teeth nip at his pulse is so fucking sexy that Kakashi doesn’t know how he’s going to make it through the night without losing his mind.

Iruka somehow manages to get his pants open and tugs his shirt out of his waistband, then attempts to undo his shirt. In his impatience, the buttons don’t seem to want to do what he wants, and with a huff of frustration against Kakashi’s lips, he gives the shirt a rough yank, sending buttons flying as Kakashi’s shirt rips open and Kakashi’s so surprised that he stops kissing him for a moment to look down at his shirt, which is now destroyed and hanging open on him.

His gaze travels from his bare chest to Iruka, who looks a little dazed, but has a slightly mischievous grin on his face, like he doesn’t really feel bad about ruining his shirt.

“I assume you realize that you’re going to pay dearly for that,” Kakashi says lightly as a smirk curls his lips and he pulls his shirt off, letting it drop to the floor.

“Oh, is that so? How exactly do you expect me to-- _nnm!_ ” Iruka doesn’t get a chance to finish his sentence, because Kakashi’s tongue is in his mouth and his thigh is pressing right where Iruka wants it the most. He melts into the kiss, arms sliding around Kakashi’s neck, as he grinds against the strong plane of Kakashi’s thigh.

There’s a part of Kakashi that thinks maybe they’re moving just a little too fast. He would have liked to take things slow, would have liked to slowly uncover Iruka, discover all the sensitive parts of him that make him moan. He would have liked to let his fingers brush everywhere, dipping into his hips, between his thighs, all the secret places of him he’s only ever dreamed about but never thought he could ever touch. He would have kissed him, every inch of him -- let his mouth roam and wander and get lost on the beautiful terrain of Iruka’s body. He would have liked that, and he thinks Iruka would have liked it too.

But this isn’t so terrible, either -- this hot, desperate rutting as Iruka grinds against him, as he forms soft, desperate sounds in the back of his throat. His tongue lashes against Kakashi’s and trembles travel through his thighs with the effort of staying upright. The way he kisses Kakashi is hungry, desperate almost, and it makes the fire inside of Kakashi grow hotter until it’s all he can feel -- the intensity of his need for Iruka, the suffocating madness of it.

There’s a sharp tear of sound as Iruka’s shirt rips apart under Kakashi’s fingers, and Iruka gasps in shock and confusion as he suddenly finds himself pressed harder into the wall. Kakashi’s hands are suddenly _everywhere_ , roaming all over Iruka’s skin as his mouth breaks from Iruka’s and he begins to stamp a hot line down his neck. His fingers find the soft nubs of Iruka’s nipples and he lets them brush over one, feeling it instantly pebble under his touch as Iruka moans and arches into him.

Kakashi’s teeth graze over Iruka’s collarbone and he gives the nipple a pinch between thumb and forefinger, twisting gently, and Iruka’s body jerks wildly as he cries out, hips desperately rocking as he tries to rub himself harder against Kakashi’s thigh.

“Kakashi… _please_ …” he begs and Kakashi can’t take it any longer. He slides his knee out from between Iruka’s legs, fingers holding Iruka in place against the wall so that he doesn’t sag the second Kakashi slides away. Iruka looks at him with need and confusion, breathless, eyes glassy with need. “What--what are you--” The words cut off the second Kakashi’s knees hit the floor and his hot mouth presses kisses just under his navel.

“I did say you were going to pay dearly, didn’t I,” Kakashi murmurs against hot skin, feeling Iruka’s abs leap under his tongue as he wrestles with the fastenings of his pants.

Iruka looks at him like he can’t believe this is really happening. Like Kakashi isn’t really on his knees before him with his fingers curling into the waistband of his pants and underwear. It’s almost as though it never occurred to him for a moment that Kakashi might actually want to do something like this.

Kakashi chuckles softly, the sound a smooth rumble in the back of his throat. “Don’t look so surprised, Iruka-sensei. I’ve been wanting to do this for a long, long time,” he admits, and he yanks Iruka’s pants and underwear down until it bunches around his knees, revealing a beautifully curved cock which is swollen with arousal, glistening at the tip.

The smell of his arousal is so potent, so intense, that Kakashi groans as it fills his nose, the tangy musk making his mouth water the moment he breathes it in. His own cock strains painfully at the front of his pants, but Kakashi’s far more concerned with the cock hanging right in front of his face. He glances up at Iruka, who is now looking at him expectantly, eyes slightly wide.

Kakashi smirks, hands sliding back up Iruka’s thighs as he presses wet kisses down over his left hip. He sucks on the ridge languidly as fingers come up to lightly brush over the sensitive skin of Iruka’s cock, and Iruka’s body jerks as he moans.

“ _Hmnngh....!”_ It’s almost a whimper of sound, and Iruka’s eyes squeeze shut as the back of his head thumps lightly against the wall. He exhales with a hiss, fingers tangling into Kakashi’s hair. Kakashi is so amazed at how fucking sensitive Iruka is. Just a touch of his fingers and Iruka’s cock twitches, jumps at the contact, a bead of precum dribbling from the tip and down the length. Iruka is flushed, the red spreading over his chest and stomach, unable to quite breathe and looking so thoroughly debauched when Kakashi hasn’t even _done_ anything yet.

Iruka is _beautiful_ like this, Kakashi thinks, as his mouth travels down, teeth grazing over warm skin as his fingers twine around the length of his cock, giving Iruka a good squeeze and a slow stroke from tip to base and back once more. His mouth travels down, tongue sliding out to taste him, flicking at the head of his cock as he watches Iruka through his lashes. He lets his tongue swivel around the flushed head as he continues to slowly pump Iruka’s cock with his hand, and the motions _rip_ a moan right out of Iruka, one that comes out breathlessly and from the stomach, like he’s never been touched this way before. Like he’s never had a mouth around him before. He’s so needy that his knees shake, thighs quivering as his cock jerks in Kakashi’s grip, and it’s incredible how wet he’s getting with each lick and stroke. He’s so aroused that he’s practically _dripping_ , and it’s so fucking sexy, the way each stroke makes an audible squelch.

And all Kakashi has done so far is lap at the head of his cock and slowly jerk him off.

 _“More_ ... _a-ahh_ \--!” Iruka begs as his he thrusts his hips forward, as though he’s trying to press more of his cock into Kakashi’s mouth.

Kakashi chuckles, liking how sensitive Iruka is, how responsive. He lets his lips part and slowly takes more of Iruka into his mouth, humming softly at the taste of him, eyes closing as hot, hard flesh fills his mouth. He makes a mess of it, enjoying the feel of Iruka pressing down his tongue and rubbing against the back of his throat.

The thick wet emanations that drip copiously from the tip of Iruka’s cock are enough to make Kakashi’s mouth fill with saliva, and he licks and sucks hungrily, fingers turning into a blur as they slide from the base of Iruka’s cock to meet the strokes of his mouth. His other hand dips down to massage Iruka’s sensitive sac, rolls it in the palm of his hand, wanting to hear more of those needy sounds. To feel Iruka shake under his touch.

Iruka’s eyes roll back, head lolling to the side against a shoulder that hunches upwards, breath stolen and ripped right out of him. His mouth falls open as his jaw goes slack with pleasure. “So good... you’re so good…”  The words fall out of Iruka’s mouth like a prayer between breathy moans. His hips arch and he presses more of himself into Kakashi’s mouth, fingers tightening in his hair as he gives a sharp tug, sending a pleasurable sear of pain down Kakashi’s spine.

Kakashi loves this, loves the incoherent noises Iruka makes that tapers off to whimpers and stuttering moans. Loves the way Iruka starts to pump his cock in and out of his mouth. Loves the way he slowly starts to fuck his face, driving in deeper and deeper with each roll of the hips as his knees shake. It’s _perfect_ , better than anything Kakashi could have dreamed up.

Iruka is intoxicating like this, deliriously so.

Kakashi easily loses himself in the act, in the sound of Iruka’s voice and the taste of him in his mouth, a hunger that drives him to swallow every inch. He takes him down his throat as he hums with satisfaction, with need, swallowing him with practiced ease until he has him all the way down and his lips press against wiry brown hairs. His own cock strains against the confines of his pants, which is growing increasingly painful from the constriction with each passing moment, leaking a dark, wet spot through the front.

He’s so hard that it’s painful now, and his cock throbs in time with each pulse of his heart, and he thinks he’s going a little crazy with how badly he needs to be touched.

Drawing his mouth down the length of Iruka’s cock, Kakashi runs his tongue over the dripping head with a wet, desperate gasp, slick fingers traveling up to grasp at Iruka’s hip as his gaze flows up the length of his body to his face.

“Iruka…” Kakashi murmurs softly against the tip of Iruka’s cock as it pops out of his mouth. 

Iruka’s lower lip tremble and he’s breathing hard. And maybe it’s a good thing that Kakashi has stopped fucking him with his mouth, maybe it’s a good thing that Kakashi’s given him a moment to pause, because it looks like he’s rather close. Kakashi probably could have given him a few more strokes of the mouth and milked his orgasm right out of him right there in the doorway.

“C-Come here....” Iruka shakily grabs Kakashi by the shoulders, hands sliding up his neck and the sides of his face, towards his hair. And then he’s bending over as he draws Kakashi’s face up towards him. “Come here, Kakashi...“ Iruka exhales softly and he cups Kakashi’s face in his mouth as he leans down to kiss him.

Kakashi sighs softly into the kiss, hand rising to slide over the back of Iruka’s neck as he slowly gets up to his feet, groaning softly as the movement makes his too-hard cock rub against the inside of his pants. He backs Iruka up against the wall once more, his other hand dropping down to dip under the waistband of his own pants, to tug them down and release his arousal with a small gasp, brows pinching together slightly at the sensation. His cock rubs against the inside of Iruka’s thigh, leaving a wet streak.

“Tell me I’m not dreaming...“ Kakashi murmurs against Iruka’s mouth as he tugs the band holding up Iruka’s ponytail out, letting his hair fall softly around his face.

Iruka’s hands slide down the scars over Kakashi’s back, slow and sensual, gliding over each contour, each dip and bulge and jagged edge. He hums into the kiss, lips slowing down and head tilting to suckle at the corner, where the scar cuts across the left corner of Kakashi’s upper lip, just above his birthmark. His hands slide over to Kakashi’s waist then, over the hipbone and up his stomach, fingers spreading over his chest, all over his scars, and Kakashi shudders when he wonders if maybe Iruka is trying to memorize each one.

“Maybe you still are…” Iruka breathlessly whispers as his lips graze against his jaw and find their way to his ear. His breath is hot and it sends a shudder down Kakashi’s spine when he whispers, “Is it a good dream?”

Kakashi exhales a soft breath that could almost be a moan, tilting his head back, his hand coming to settle against Iruka’s hip. Iruka’s lips and breath feel so hot against his skin, send sharp waves of _want_ through his body. His fingers tighten slightly in their grip, sliding around to give the curve of Iruka’s ass an appreciative squeeze. “The best.”  He murmurs, then drops his chin down to kiss Iruka again, toeing off his shoes so he can get his pants off completely and move out of the doorway.

Iruka’s laugh dies down in his throat as his hands slide down and starts to help Kakashi get rid of his clothes. It’s messy and fumbling, almost playful, as Iruka wriggles out of his pants, struggles a bit to get his shoes off and ends up sort of leaning against Kakashi, holding on to him and around his shoulders. Somewhere in the process, _something_ gets knocked down and Iruka bursts out laughing into the kiss just as he kicks his pants off somewhere with his shoes and starts to drag Kakashi, walking backwards towards the futon, kissing him the entire time.

“Let’s make it better~” He practically purrs and Kakashi’s cock gives a hard throb as he suddenly finds a hand wrapped around him as Iruka leads him towards the futon, quite literally by the cock. It sends a fire ripping through Kakashi’s groin and he shudders, groaning at the wonderful sensation of those slender fingers start pumping his cock.

“It can get better?”  Kakashi groans into the kiss as Iruka tugs him down onto the futon between his legs.

Moonlight spills through the open window in a milky wash of blue white light that makes Iruka’s features even softer and more beautiful than they already are. Kakashi breaks the kiss to just _look_ at him for a moment as he settles down on top of him, fingers sliding through Iruka’s hair.

“Yes…” Iruka says breathlessly, eyes dark want. “Oh _yes_ …” Iruka _whispers_ it like it’s some secret, and his hand strokes Kakashi roughly, sending waves of pleasure down his spine. His fingers pump once, twice, and then they turn to brush down his shaft, tapering to a gentle cup of his balls as Iruka spreads his own legs a bit, hooks a leg over Kakashi’s hip and drags him down flush against him and kisses him _,_ crushing their mouths together, along with their cocks.

 _“Hmmnnn…”_  Kakashi’s mouth is hungry, almost desperate as his hips roll against Iruka’s, shuddering at the way it feels to have his cock rubbing so perfectly against his new lover’s. How many nights had he lied sleepless, fingers around his cock and Iruka’s face swimming before his eyes? He’s not sure, really -- has lost count, and now, this moment is the culmination of all that _want_ , and he’s almost breathless with desire as his mouth travels over Iruka’s jaw and down to his neck, sucking and nipping at sensitive skin. A hand travels between their bodies, fingers wrapping around both of their cocks in a stroke to hold them together. He presses the heads of their arousals together, and it’s very sticky and wet and drippy, the way precum just oozes from their arousals.

The scent of need is overwhelming, and Kakashi groan mingles with Iruka’s whimper as he drags his thumb from the glossy head of Iruka’s cock to rub against his own.

It’s so good and so _hot_ that Kakashi thinks he might just be able to come like this as he rolls his hips forward, grinding their cocks together.

“W-Where... the lube…” Iruka manages to get out, barely able to form a coherent sentence. Kakashi’s hips still in that very moment, as he realizes Iruka wants a lot more than just this desperate rutting. His mind goes blank for a moment as he thinks to himself, _Iruka-sensei wants me to fuck him. He wants my cock inside of him._

(He might or might not have experienced a small aneurysm at that very moment. Luckily, it doesn’t result in a nose bleed or anything that ridiculous.)

Kakashi pulls back slightly, breathing heavily as his hand falls away from Iruka for a moment and he looks around the room as well -- pauses when he catches sight of his bag. It occurs to him that he just so happens to _have_ exactly what Iruka is looking for. He had come prepared to get laid, because you never know what kind of sweet little thing you might meet on a trip like this, but he never expected that sweet little thing would end up being Iruka. And so, it’s only with a little bit of reluctance that he draws away from Iruka’s warm body to rummage through his bag and look for the travel-sized tube he packed, alongside his extra socks and extra energy bars.

“You’re _kidding_ , right... please don’t tell me you _actually have lube._ _Packed_ lube.” Iruka sounds absolutely indignant.

Kakashi glances over his shoulder then at Iruka, raising an eyebrow.  “And if I did?” He raises a tube of lube right after that and wiggles it a little. And then he holds up a foil-wrapped square that can only be a condom.

 _“On a school trip!”_ If Iruka could turn any redder, he’d be a dark crimson. It’s a good thing that the lights are out, otherwise Kakashi might have gotten a little nervous as Iruka just grabs the tube of lube out of his hand and uncaps it, squeezes a good amount into his hand, and glares at him. And then, without any warning, he grabs Kakashi by the cock and starts to slick him up. “Really. _On a school trip_. What were you thinking?”

All Kakashi can manage to do is moan, when Iruka’s hand is so slippery and warm and _perfect._

 _“Unbelievable.”_ Iruka growls out as he shoves Kakashi down to the futon and reverses their position so he’s the one straddling Kakashi, who watches a little wide-eyed, mouth dry, as Iruka reaches behind himself with lubed up fingers. And though he certainly can’t see exactly what Iruka is doing due to the angle, judging by the way his mouth drops open in a moan and the sucking sound of flesh being parted, he certainly can imagine just what’s happening.

It’s hotter than he ever could have imagined -- Iruka-sensei fingering himself.

“Well…” Kakashi says a bit breathlessly when he remembers again how to talk, a smile edging up the corners of his mouth as his hands slide up Iruka’s thighs, watching him prepare himself. “I’ll make it worth your while, hmm?”

One hand wraps around Iruka’s dripping cock and gives it a slow squeeze before he starts to stroke him steadily, watching him intently through his lashes, rewarding him with a moan as Iruka’s hips start to jerk slightly as he fucks himself with his fingers. He shifts forward on his knees, bracing himself with one hand splayed against Kakashi’s sternum. Kakashi watches as Iruka’s teeth slowly sink into his lower lip and his eyes flutter shut as his hips snap in tandem with his breaching fingers. His mouth drops open in a breathless moan, and Kakashi thinks this is quite possibly the sexiest thing he’s ever seen in his life.

“Curl them.”  Kakashi rasps, lips parting in wonder as he watches Iruka do this. He certainly wasn’t expecting _this_ of Umino Iruka, but ah, he supposes there is quite a lot he doesn’t know about the teacher, whose thighs tremble slightly as a long moan rolls past his lips that tapers into a whimper.

It’s almost an helpless sound as something _ignites_ and makes Iruka quiver, and Kakashi can only imagine that his fingers have found that molten spot inside of him. Iruka’s weight sort of sags forward, and he leans onto Kakashi’s chest as he rests his weight on one arm. His hips jerk arrhythmically and he rolls them, rocking forward and back onto his own fingers as he fucks himself, eyes barely open, merely slits of darkened and molten heated _want_ that cut straight through Kakashi, vicious and hot.

It’s rough and brutal and utterly sexy. Kakashi can hear the sound of his fingers slamming into his body, the wet slap of skin on skin. 

His eyes darken as he watches Iruka breathlessly, cock _throbbing_ at the sight of Iruka like this, so desperate and wanton and hungry for _him_.  He groans softly, sucking back a breath, as he tears open the condom, and with shaking fingers, manages to roll it onto his hard dick, grunting as the latex constricts him. He then reaches out and curls his fingers around Iruka’s cock, stroking hard and fast as he reaches up to grab Iruka by the back of the neck, pulling him down for a rough, bruising kiss that has him sucking at his lower lip, teeth nipping hard.

“God, you’re so fucking sexy.” The words are hissed out hotly against Iruka’s mouth as Kakashi releases his cock to slide his hands around Iruka, squeezing his ass and spreading him roughly.

“Ride me.”  It’s a harsh demand that comes out roughly.

It might have been a _yes_ , it might have just been a whimper, but Iruka slides his fingers out of himself with a gasp and ends up holding onto Kakashi’s sides with both his hands, fingers digging into muscle. Kakashi grunts as Iruka reaches behind him, curls his fingers around the base of his cock, and guides the fat head of his arousal right to his twitching entrance. And then he’s sinking down onto Kakashi’s cock, taking every hard inch of him into himself, and Kakashi cries out, his voice joining Iruka’s, as he plunges into Iruka’s perfect heat.

Iruka feels like _fire_ around him, so tight and _hot_ that it makes Kakashi gasp for breath, makes his fingers dig into the curves of Iruka’s buttocks harder in a bruising grip as his hips arch up reflexively, slowly driving up into all of that _heat_.  He spreads Iruka wider and then draws him down with sudden pull and thrust of his hips that makes Iruka cry out loudly, and all Kakashi can do is suck in a sharp breath when he feels Iruka contract around him desperately, body shuddering all around him.

_“K-ah-k-kashi…”_

It’s not even a moan at this point, or a whimper, but something quite helpless. Iruka seems almost so drunk on the heat that makes him feel like he’s on fire, that everything just burns under his skin. Iruka doesn’t know when he starts to move, or when his hips start to roll and ride the hard, hot length viciously. He doesn’t know when he had looked down at Kakashi, watches him as he fucks himself on that cock, _cries_ out with each bounce and each slide that leaves him seeing blotches of white in the corners of his vision. Every time the tip of Kakashi’s cock brushes against that spot inside him, he forgets himself and what to think. Or _how_ to think. Iruka just wants more and more and doesn’t _stop_ wanting.

 _“Fuck.”_  Kakashi gasps out, a harsh, guttural sound as he pushes himself up, wraps an arm around Iruka’s waist, his other hand coming down in a harsh slap on Iruka’s rear as he gives his ass a bruising squeeze, pounding up into him. His mouth crushes against Iruka’s,  swallowing down and muffling his loud, desperate cries each time he slams up into Iruka’s tight, slippery entrance.

“You feel so _good.”_ Kakashi groans as he licks at a corner of Iruka’s mouth and snaps his hips back up as he slams into Iruka’s tight body, beads of sweat dewing at his temples, trickling down the sides of his face. He suddenly shifts them, lifting Iruka up as he rises on his knees, holding him up as he continues to fuck him, raw and fast, then slams Iruka down on his back on the futon, his hands curling around his ankles as he pushes his legs back. Kakashi tugs Iruka’s ankles to rest on his shoulders and leans forward with a hard roll of his hips, one hand dropping down to wrap his fingers around Iruka’s cock, stroking it in tandem with each thrust.

Iruka’s cries are loud, eyes closed and hands gripping the sides of the futon, teeth gritting and heels digging into Kakashi’s shoulders. His body is as tight as a drawn bowstring, glistening with sweat. He looks at Kakashi the way one would when they like what they see, when their breath is stolen away and they’re left staring slack jawed with just a whisper of a smile around the corners. He watches Kakashi fuck him, watches how Kakashi’s hand strokes him, hard and fast.

And it’s more than enough to leave Iruka crying out Kakashi’s name over and over again with each thrust, without realizing how he begs for more, _demands_ for more. Tells Kakashi to move faster, tells him he’s so close, _swears_ in the middle of it all until he reaches that point where even forming words just doesn’t work. And he’s a whimpering mess, neck arching off the futon and elbows digging into the sheets and all he can think of (and all that matters) is Kakashi and his cock.

All Kakashi can feel is Iruka, so hot and tight and _wanting_ , and each time he breathes in, the scent of Iruka is sharp in his nose, the taste of him still thick on his tongue and the sound of Iruka’s voice rings in his ears, so needy and breathless and Kakashi can sense how close Iruka is, can tell by the way his cock throbs and jerks in his stroking hand.  Kakashi pushes Iruka’s knees back then, forces them to press against Iruka’s chest as he leans forward, drives in _deeper_ and _harder_ , short guttural sounds of need leaving his throat with each brutal slam of his hips, each wet slap of balls against Iruka’s skin, each squelch of his fingers and his cock pulling out and driving in.

 _“Hahh! Mmnn! Iruka!”_ He cries out roughly as he leans down to kiss him, rough and sloppy, all teeth and tongue. His hand turns to a blur on Iruka’s cock as he thrusts faster and faster, so close to the edge.

And right into Kakashi's kiss, against his mouth, Iruka comes completely undone. He cries out, long and dragging, almost sobbing as he empties himself into Kakashi's hand, a strong spurt of white seed, thick and generous, drenches Kakashi's hands and spreads between their chests. Kakashi doesn’t know when Iruka’s hands somehow relocated to his shoulders, but he's gripping him tightly, arching up against him, neck pulled back and taut, gritting his teeth, just emptying and emptying, and coming and coming, the sobbing-cry tapering off to a throaty moan and whimper before it just fades off to a silent shudder for breath.

And at that moment, Kakashi cries out, a hoarse sound of pleasure as his body tenses, spine arching as three months of wanting, of longing for Iruka, culminates in one, hot outpour of desire and need and too many sleepless nights, too much _sensation_ spinning through his body and leaving him in a sudden _blast_ of hot white pleasure that has him driving in again and again until he’s spilling out, coming inside Iruka violently, gasping as his body shudders violently above Iruka.

And when it’s over, all he can see is Iruka’s face, heart pounding in his chest as he comes to rest on top of him. His face falls into the damp curve of Iruka’s throat as he gasps for air and tries to catch his breath and he thinks to himself that this is the best damn dream he’s ever had, and if he never wakes up again, he can die a happy man.

For a long while, there’s only the sound of breath that fills the room, as both Kakashi and Iruka try their best to catch their breaths.

Iruka is the first one who manages to get some semblance of control over his breathing. He groans softly as his hands flatten out against Kakashi’s shoulder before they flop bonelessly onto the futon.

 _“Wow…”_ Iruka manages to say breathlessly, and the wonder in his voice is unmistakeable.

Kakashi chuckles lightly, and gently shifts, lifting his head up to press a soft kiss against Iruka’s lips as he looks down at him and props himself up with an elbow near Iruka’s head. He brushes damp hair out of Iruka’s face, then nuzzles him a little with his nose, still a little breathless. “Told you I’d make it worth your while.”

“If I had known, I would have gotten you drunk a long time ago…” Iruka breathlessly whispers, a satisfied grin on his face.

“Iruka-sensei… you can get me drunk anytime you want.” Kakashi says with a smile and when Iruka leans his head back and laughs, Kakashi thinks it’s the most beautiful sound in the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, it took us nearly a year to finally get out this chapter. We're so sorry about the long wait, but you know, life gets in the way sometimes... We'll do our best to finish this fic. We promise we're not abandoning it, or any of our other fics that we've collaborated on! (Or any of our own for that matter.) To those of you who've stuck through with us... thanks for reading! We love you guys.


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